Transcending My Wings
by d-n-aineil
Summary: ItaNaru Modern day Naruto is thrust into an alternate shinobi world, so how is a teenager supposed to find a little bit of romance when he's faced with the fact that he was sent there to stop something a little bit more than world domination. Yaoi.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** I don't own this obviously, Masashi Kishimoto owns the Naruto series and I have no affiliation with the Naruto series or whatsoever plus I don't make any money from this story.

Synopsis: A blonde boy's class goes to a museum for their field trip and he ends up in a ninja filled alternate reality through a painting. What's linking him between the modern day times to the shinobi days?

* * *

To Transcend My Wings

: : Prologue: :

* * *

"You really gotta stop sleeping in class you know…" whispered a brown haired boy to a half-asleep blonde boy next to him.

"Hmm?" muttered the other groggily.

"I said, you really gotta stop sleeping in," said the brown headed boy while poking the other on the side which caused the latter to squeak a bit; their little antics caught the attention of their professor currently giving a lecture.

"Is there anything you'd like to say to the class, Mr. Inuzuka?" asked the professor in a softly spoken yet stern voice, directing his attention to the chocolate haired young man that seems to be directing his attention to everything else but the lecture at hand.

"No, nothing sir!"

"Well, then I suggest you keep it down back there," said the professor before returning to his lecture. The brown haired boy could only let out a sigh that he didn't know he was holding. So the two young teenagers decided to keep quiet for the rest of the lecture just to stay on the safe side of their professor. Meanwhile, the professor kept droning on and on about how scientific technology is also affected by art, but frankly, neither of the two cared to listen.

It went on for about another half hour or so before the bell rang to signify that the class has now come to its end, but before anyone could stand up to take their leave, the professor had to announce something else that was important.

"Tomorrow, be sure to meet in the front lobby there will be a bus to take us to the museum of Arts. We will be going there to study modern and contemporary art against science and modern day ideologies and for those who have not gotten their parents' permission slip signed, they will have to stay here with the librarian to complete some physics packet."

The class curtly nodded their head in understanding before standing up and taking their leave. Finally out of class, the two friends decided to play hooky and skip class for the rest of the day.

"Wanna go to the arcade Naruto?"

"Nah, I feel like cozying up to Shikamaru and go to sleep… hehehe…"

"Yeah, yeah, lately you've been 'cozying' up to Shika so much more than usual." This little observation obviously struck a nerve and had the golden haired boy blushing in an instant. "Aha! You like the lazy genius don't you," quipped Kiba.

"W-well… uhm.. ahh… that-is… oh shaddup dog breath!" retorted Naruto. As much as Naruto tried to ignore his blushing cheeks Kiba just wouldn't let it go now that he's been found out.

"So how are you planning to seduce the oblivious one oh great blonde igoddess/i?" asked Kiba in a rather serious voice with the sarcasm obviously in check.

"Well, I wouldn't—**WHAT!**" half-yelled Naruto as he finally grasped what it was exactly that Kiba had just said. "I'm not a woman! You-"

"Oi! How troublesome… what's with all the ruckus blondie?" Naruto hadn't seen the object of their discussion walking towards them and once the said boy stood beside the blushing blonde, the atmosphere became just a tad bit heavy with some tension emanating from the fidgety blushing blonde.

"U-umm, so wanna go to the arcade with us Shika?" said Kiba trying to dispel the tension between the brunette and the blonde.

"Actually, can I talk to Naruto for a minute… alone?" With that said, Naruto blushed harder while Kiba just nodded before bidding them a farewell, but not before saying that he'd just meet up with Naruto at the library later on.

"So what did you want to talk to me… about?" asked Naruto in a soft and meek voice.

"Well, you see- I heard from Shiori that you like me and I just wanted to talk to you about it."

"U-umm, well, it's just-" but before Naruto could even explain anything further, Shika beat him to the punch.

"Actually, I do like you too but nothing more than just a friend, I'm sorry…"

"A-a- well, I never expected you to like me back actually but I really do admire you…" Naruto tried to leave and get away from the hurt emanating from his chest. Naruto guessed that this must be what it feels like to have your heart broken. Before Naruto could even take more than two steps away from the brunette, the said brunette stopped him by holding on to the other's arm.

"Please don't be mad, we've known each other for quite a while now and I haven't—can't think of you as more than my friend or even a brother." With that being said, tears slid down Naruto's face as he realized that even if Shika never looked at him that way, he'd still be happy for the guy. Naruto, feeling out of sorts, twisted his arm out of Shika's grasp and wrapped himself around Shikamaru's waist with his face buried in the brunette's chest. The brunette couldn't help but wrap his arms around the blonde as well.

"Thank You." That was all that was said between the two but it seemed to be all that was needed as Naruto smiled even when he's hidden in the arms of the other. But all things do come to an end and the two separated and their 'talk' seemed to dispel the previous tenseness between them.

"Alright then, I better go."

"Same here, I'm gonna go meet up with Kiba and go from there!" The two went along their separate ways and Naruto went straight to the library to meet up with Kiba.

* * *

As soon as Naruto got to the library, he spotted Kiba right away snoozing on the far left corner. That's always the same place where Kiba goes off to 'nap' if he's feeling fatigued or tired. Naruto couldn't help but think of the times when the librarian, a kind but uptight old woman, used to scold the brown headed boy for sleeping during school hours. The two would always cause a big ruckus and Kiba would just shrug it off, making the older woman so much more irritated. Nowadays, the librarian just lets Kiba get away with it, less headache for her after all.

"Kiba, wake up…" said Naruto as he nudged the other, trying to wake him up. All that Naruto got was a mumbled reply from the sleeping figure. So Naruto bent a little lower and nipped on the unsuspecting figure's ear.

"Waaah!" Kiba jolted straight up from the sensation that wracked his figure. His face turned entirely red as he saw the people turned to look at what had just happened. Even he himself couldn't chuckle and just laugh it off as so many people saw the cause of his reaction. As he finally got a hold of himself, he smacked Naruto upside his head for doing that, but he couldn't stay mad at the blonde. After all, he and Naruto have been friends forever and almost seemed inseparable.

"Itai! That hurt, you know!" said the blonde with a pout on his face.

"Ahhh- well, you deserve it dumbass."

"Hehe, you shoulda seen your face! Priceless!" The blonde poked fun at the brunette's response but was suddenly cut off as he remembered why exactly he came to get the other guy besides the fact that they promised to meet in the library later on.

"So what did you and Shikamaru talk about?" This was all it took to calm down the overzealous blonde.

"Um, nothing much really."

"That doesn't sound too good…" said Kiba in return knowing that whenever the blonde feigned innocence on a subject, it was usually because it was too hard to talk about.

"Actually, it's been freeing. I mean, I think I confused myself thinking that I was really falling in love with him and with me just really liking him because I admire him."

"What do you mean?"

"Just that, I really like Shikamaru but I'm not really in love with him, I guess I figured that out a little too late."

"So you're giving up?"

"Not giving up, but I'm sure that someday I could find that one person that I like… hehehe, mushy I know dog breath but I do believe in love at first sight and the oh so romantic first love and stuff like that… " Naruto couldn't help but chuckle a bit as he thought that he might be getting a bit too soft.

"I admire you, you know… I don't think I would have handled it that well…"

"Well, it also helps that--" Naruto recalled the time that Shikamaru held him close to comfort him as tears welled up and fell from his bright blue eyes and he ended up in his own little world.

"Well, let's leave it at that and how 'bout we go to the arcades before we head home." Kiba tried to redirect their conversation before it might be too late to stop the other from crying. And that was exactly what Naruto needed as he let out one of his silent cheers and took Kiba by the arms and bounded off in a flash.

* * *

Naruto and Kiba played at the arcades for a while going from one machine to the next trying to outdo the previous high scores before them. That was, until their empty stomachs made their presence known. The two decided to quit now and head on home to get some much needed food into their growling stomachs.

"Want to stay over at my house, Kiba?"

"Huh? How come?"

"It's hard to sleep before a trip, and you know how I am…" By then, Naruto was fidgeting from one foot to the other and intently looking at the floor before Kiba gave in and sighed saying that he'll stay over as long as they drop by his house first to get some much needed stuff so he wouldn't have to go back in the morning before their school trip. Naruto agreed and the two went straight to Kiba's place first but stopped by a fast food joint before going back to Naruto's own home.

* * *

"Daddy! I'm home! Me and Kiba already ate so we're going up to my room!" Without missing a beat, Naruto and Kiba scrambled up to the room and began to settle down but not before a voice called out from the kitchen.

"Alright! If you want some desert, I made a strawberry cake and some other pastries. I put them in the-" And just like that, a blur of yellow passed by him and grabbed the cupcakes on the counter before a quick peck on the cheek was placed on the bewildered man.

"Thanks dad! Love you dad!" A huge grin broke out on the man's face as he continued what he was doing beforehand.

Holding two chocolate cupcakes with strawberry frosting on top, Naruto bounded up the stairs back to his room to give Kiba one of them.

"Here, try it! It's one of my dad's specialties!" said Naruto as he handed Kiba one of the cupcakes he was holding.

"We should probably try and go to sleep now. It's getting a bit late," said Kiba, as he took a bite from the cupcake offered. After they finished their treats, the two promptly went to the adjoined bathroom to complete their nightly rituals and eventually settled down to the king sized bed in Naruto's oversized room.

"I wonder what you're father thinks whenever he sees us sleeping together like this?"

"Don't make that kind of joke! You know what my father thinks of us! We've tried the whole dating scene and it didn't work out for us so this doesn't mean more than what it looks like."

"Hahaha! I'm just teasing blondie! You know that!" Kiba was still chuckling a bit as Naruto took a glance at the clock offside from his bed with Kiba following his line of sight.

"It's already almost 11, we should sleep or at least settle down so we can get to sleep, and soon…" that was what it took to get Naruto out of his self induced trance.

"Yeah, I guess we should… Kiba?"

"Hmm?"

"Thanks… for staying here."

"No problem kiddo, now go to sleep…"

"Right! Good night…"

"Night!"

A couple of half hours later, Naruto's dad peeked inside his son's room and saw the two sleeping. Currently, Naruto was half-sprawled on top of Kiba and the other is almost completely off the bed. He walked silently to Naruto's side before brushing a stray strand of hair from his son's face. He gently gave his son a small kiss on the cheek before tucking the two young men back into bed and straightening out their positions.

"Goodnight," muttered the older man, before leaving the room as quietly as he had come.

* * *

The morning came along with the rays of sunlight that graced the blonde teenager's room. Naruto awoke first, and quickly readied himself to go to school. After the morning rituals he and Kiba got their stuff in order and went down to eat the breakfast already laid out for them. Naruto's father, however, had already gone to work and left them a quick note saying, **"Naruto, I've set up your breakfast and left money on top of the fridge, I'll be home at around 7pm tonight, Love you, Dad. P.S. Have fun on your school trip!"** Naruto smiled a little as soon as he saw the last part of the note. He always loved it when his dad left him notes. So once the two got their fill of their breakfast, they headed off to school.

Upon arrival, Kiba and Naruto waited for the rest of the class to arrive as well. It was only a few minutes later that the stream of students started to arrive. The professor also showed up a couple of minutes later asking them to line up by the side so he could take attendance before the bus arrives. Once the attendance has been taken, everyone siphoned off to their own little cliques before the bus finally arrived to take them to their destination.

The groups of students calmed down enough for them to be ushered in the bus. The bus alone is able to hold 40 people at maximum, 20 on each side, plus it was air-conditioned and had a working TV on the very front row and smaller screens attached at the back of each seat, excluding the very last row of seats of course. Most of the rowdier students filled the back of the bus first for reasons unknown while the others opted for a quieter ride towards the front. Naruto and Kiba was seated towards the middle and decided to snooze for the rest of the trip until they arrived as it still is about a half an hour trip. The two made themselves comfortable as best they could and tried to rest but the voices of the students coming from the back row coupled with the voice from the TV didn't make for a very good combination.

"Kiba, sorry for keeping you awake last night," sighed the blonde.

"You weren't the only one, I mean, we slept for about an hour or two straight before I kept waking up every odd hour."

"Hahaha, and I woke up every time in between! That seems rather weird, even for us!" Kiba laughed alongside the blonde boy, only to remember something from the night before.

"So last night, your father went to your room."

"You noticed that too?… he seemed sad about something, He just tucked us in and said good night but his goodnight felt a little sad, I wonder what's got him down?"

"Maybe your father is just thinking that you're growing up a bit too fast for his liking and you won't need him someday... well, at least, that's what my mom keeps telling me."

"Maybe, but my dad is a bit unpredictable though; guess that's where I got it from…" As soon as those words fell from the blonde's mouth, the brunette knew exactly what the other was thinking.

_"He's wishing that he really is his father's son."_ It was a little known fact between the two of them that Naruto is adopted. It was on the blonde's sixteenth birthday when he found out everything from his father.

****FLASHBACK****

**"Dad? Why so gloomy? It's my birthday so we have to celebrate!" Naruto had been noticing a change of attitude from his father since the week before, like something was needed to be said but the older man just couldn't spit it out so today, Naruto decided to confront his father about it. "I know something is bothering you dad so why don't we talk about it?"**

**"Well, you see, there's this thing I've been meaning to tell you but I don't know how to tell you exactly. I think you'll be mad at me for keeping this to myself after all this time."**

**"Dad… whatever it is, I promise I won't be mad at you, whatever it is, please tell me."**

**"You see, well… you're adopted."**

****END FLASHBACK****

The blonde grinned as the memory of that day flooded his head. His father looked like he was about to cry after the few moments that the boy remained silent. Once the boy regained his bearings though, he had told his father that he was just grateful that he was adopted by such a loving father. And once he got his father in a fierce hug, the man let loose all the built up emotions and cried onto his son's shoulders.

After all the waterworks subsided, Naruto asked his dad how he was found but all he got from the man was a weird story about a huge white ball of light that dropped him onto the hands of his father soon after the accident that claimed his wife. Up to this day, Naruto is still unsure of who his real parents are and what exactly happened the day he was given to his father plus he really had no idea why his father kept repeating the same ball of light story to him now that he's older.

"You know, getting spaced out is becoming a habit for you…" Naruto was knocked out from his make-believe world as soon as Kiba interrupted his musings.

"Not my fault… I was thinking about something."

"Yeah, and I think I know what it is too so let me say this now… your father loves you."

"I know that! I was thinking that I've been the center of his universe since forever… after his wife died, I was handed over to him and he literally put me on a pedestal and cared for me and even gave into my stupidity at times."

"I think everyone you know can attest to that…" Before Naruto could even ask if he meant his stupidity or his father's love, their professor announced that they have arrived by using the bus microphone. Eventually, they filed out of the bus and got in line towards the museum. The museum looked like a cathedral with gargoyle statues around the perimeter of the roof. What drew both Naruto's and Kiba's attention was a gigantic double door that was etched with various markings that surrounded a figure of a nine-tailed fox creature.

Once in front of the door, Naruto found himself lulled under another one of his self-induced trance. In Naruto's vision, the door gained a life of its own and glowed before a voice was heard coming from somewhere.

**_"Come to me…"_** Naruto looked around to see if anyone else sees that the door is glowing a faint red, but everyone else seems not to notice, but as soon as he looked back towards the door, everything returned back to normal.

"Are you okay? You look a little pale, are you feeling okay?"

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine." Kiba looked at his friend with concern in his eyes but shrugged it off.

"Okay, if you say so."

* * *

Currently, Kiba and Naruto along with the rest of the class are looking through some of the more modern arts and technology and history along with it. Their professor, along with their guide, described everything from its significance down to the smallest detail. The two, like the rest of the class were getting bored with the lecture. However, that quickly changed as soon as they got to the 'Hall of Centuries' where every majestic painting and other significant historical items were stored and up for view.

"Now as we pass through here, you will notice that some of the items are enclosed in glass domes, they are used to protect the items from rusting and/or damage that could be caused by exposure to the environment-" The tour kept on with the historical fact finding lecture as they toured the hall, but abruptly stopped as soon as one of the students shouted out loud, "That painting looks exactly like Naruto!" Everyone turned their undivided attention to a painting of a young man, who looked to be around his teenage years that looked exactly like Naruto, standing atop a roof of some kind dressed in a wedding kimono standing next to a figure dressed in the same garments but half of the painting is burned off leaving the painted man's face unrecognizable. What seems a bit prominent about the painting though, is the picture of the nine-tailed creature, that same one that was on the museum's door, plastered towards the background and each end of the fox like creature's tail held a kanji for: mist(water), cloud(lightning), rock(earth), leaf(fire), sand, sound, star, sun, and moon.

"He does look like me…. Wow! I can't wait to tell this to my dad!" Naruto contemplated on how he could get his dad to come down here and look at the picture if his schedule wouldn't permit it, but a quick idea hit him and he directed his attention to the speechless tour guide, "Excuse me, could I please take a quick picture of this on my camera so I could show it to my dad?"

"Normally, no pictures are allowed here, but since this is a rather rare sight, go right ahead but just one and please refrain from using the flash." In an instant, everyone had a digital camera of some kind but for the others that did not bring a camera; they used their camera phones instead.

Once the whole gawking and shock passed, the tour continued and as Naruto turned to go the other way, a small movement caught his eye. He looked back at the painting once more and this time, the tails of the nine-tailed fox glowed a faint red for a few seconds before returning to the lifeless art that it once was. Thinking that it was just a mind trick, he turned back and followed the rest of the class to the rest of the tour.

* * *

The tour/lecture ended fairly okay, in other words it was completely and utterly boring. So the students filed out of the museum in an orderly fashion, all looking like a zombie from the massive information download they had gotten just from that one trip. Who knew that their professor was so into that stuff? Only the ones who seemed fairly interested had been able to come out looking even half alive.

The rest of the class waited for the bus to arrive, and everyone was only too happy to see it park in front of them ready to start loading passengers. Kiba and Naruto decided to let everyone else in so they could start filling the back rows to enable them to sit near the front, which was a little bit better in keeping the noise levels down. Just as Naruto was about to climb in he noticed a child, he figured would be around 6 or 7, rush out of the museum laughing.

"Andrew! Come back here right now!" said a woman towards the child as she tried to reach him before he tried crossing the street onto the traffic. Naruto smiled at the antics of the kid before he sensed that something was off but couldn't put his finger on it.

In a momentary flash, he saw the kid getting hit by an oncoming car who couldn't see the kid from his blind spot that the bus, in front of the museum, provided. Naruto quickly regained himself, not knowing if the vision was true or not, and rushed towards the kid and grabbed him by the arm to pull him back towards the sidewalk. In that single moment, a speeding car slammed onto his side as the kid was thrown to safety. All movements ceased as the students, and passersby saw everything that happened. The mother of the child took to her own child before going over to the savior of her child's life. Everyone in the bus was advised to stay put as the driver, Kiba, and the professor took to the unmoving body of the blonde. The car driver, too, got out of his car and called for an ambulance to help the boy.

As the streets ceased all movements, Naruto could just hear a ringing noise in his head as he felt, more than saw, that he was being carried onto a stretcher and delivered somewhere else, which he guessed would be to the hospital. He could hear the sirens that the ambulance produced, and the sobs and unrestrained cries of his best friend. He could hear the brunette mutter underneath his breath that he should have been looking out for him too and that it was his fault. The blonde very much wanted to tell the other that it hadn't been anyone's fault but his body failed to move even if his mind screamed for him to do so.

Thoughts littered inside the blonde's head as he tried to picture what had happened to the boy he had saved. Was he okay? Was he bruised, scratched, anything? He tried to focus all his attention on others to deter the obvious dilemma at hand.

_**"Is this how I die? I wanted to do something a lot more in my life… at least I saved someone right? I hope my dad doesn't blame himself for this like he blamed himself for the death of his wife. I just hope he knows that I love him, even now. I also hope that Kiba doesn't become too sad, I've always hated seeing him cry, even if they were rare."**_

All thoughts were directed to his loved ones as he felt his body being carried onto a bed once more. This time he knew that he was now at the hospital and that he was currently at the surgery table, if the beeping and the hustle and bustle of the room were any indication. Soon enough, the darkness claimed him and left him in a sedated state.

* * *

Everyone in the bus were stunned at what they had just witnessed, a fellow student rushing to the aid of a small boy that had almost gotten hit by an oncoming car in expense of his own life. Kiba was the first to recover as he hurried out of the bus to his best friend currently lying lifeless on the pavement. He took out his phone and dialed 911 as he kneeled down beside the rag like body of his best friend. The operator picked up and he explained the situation, the operator told him that he dispatched an ambulance and some cop cars to the scene and to please stay calm and that everything will be fine. Kiba wanted to scream and shout that everything will not be fine, but tears flowed from his eyes and the sobs that followed hindered this. Everyone that came their way stopped to look and ask if the boy was alright but he couldn't focus on anything but the nearing sounds of the siren and the lifeless body of the boy beside him.

Soon enough, the body was put on the stretcher and the paramedics became enraptured with the situation at hand, doing all that they can to keep the boy alive enough be able to make it to the hospital for an impromptu surgery.

Kiba was asked a couple questions by the police but he couldn't answer any of the questions himself. The mother of the child took over saying she saw everything and explained in detail what had happened. The witnesses present gave their account onto what had happened and even the car driver, who was not intoxicated, gave his side of the story clearly in guilt of was he had just done.

Once the ambulance stabilized the blonde enough to move him in traffic Kiba hopped on in hopes of coming along, along the way Kiba's tears fell hard and fast as sobs wracked his body. Kiba held onto Naruto's hand like a lifeline all the while muttering apologies and other non-sense to try and comfort the blonde even if he knew that he could not be heard.

At the hospital, Kiba was forced to wait by the lobby only to see Naruto's father come up to the receptionist frantically after hearing of his boy's accident a couple of half hours later. Naruto's father immediately noticed Kiba and ran to him to ask what had happened to his boy.

"Where's Naruto? What happened?"

"I- I- I-" Kiba's voice was shot as he couldn't even get out a simple explanation. The two were only interrupted by a doctor coming out of the surgery room.

"is Mr. Uzumaki present?"

"I'm him… Is my boy alright?" Naruto's father started to worry as the doctor tried to hesitate before answering his question.

"He'll be alright for the time being but there were some massive blood loss and his spine has sustained injuries that required us to install small metallic plates to help in the healing process, and there were intensive bruising all over the body, externally and internally. However, we have stabilized his condition, but it is unsure of whether he would wake up or not."

"What do you mean wake up or not?"

"He has fallen into a coma. His brainwaves are fine and his brain did not sustain major injuries but his body is in shock and could be paralyzed."

"You mean he can't walk any longer even if he wakes up?" His heart felt like shattering at the thought of his son's predicament.

"Not exactly, there is a chance that he will still be able to walk but a trauma to the body that sever could be very taxing and will take a long time to heal. We are moving him to the ICU where he will be monitored for the week and then transferred over to a private room where he could be under surveillance until he wakes up."

"Thank you…"

* * *

Naruto felt himself being put on another bed, but this time it was much more comfortable, well he wouldn't say that it's like his bed at home but it was softer than the one he was just on he guessed. Then he heard the sound of his father's voice but he couldn't move from his spot as his consciousness tried to slip away from him. Just as he was about to give in, a voice called out to him pulling him into somewhat of a dream world.

_**"It is time…"**_ A figure closely resembling the nine-tailed fox from the painting appeared before the blonde.

"Where are we?"

_**"This is the dream world... where my will is the strongest, I can help you regain your bodily functions and awaken you once more."**_

"Really? How is that possible?"

_**"In your terms, I could be called a god, but my question is do you want to see your loved ones again."**_

"I do! I want to see everyone again, be by their side once more! Whoever you are, please help me!"

_**"I shall grant your wish but for something in exchange."**_

"Anything! Please! Tell me!"

_**"A rift has been formed between this world and another, you have the means to repair that rift and I want you to fix it."**_

"But- I don't know how!"

_**"You are the child ordained from prophecy! Your powers are yet to awaken! But know this, you have a power in you that others covet but cannot have"**_, A red ball of light appeared before the blonde but it shape shifted to the painting that the blonde has seen previously. bi"Step inside! That is where your destiny lies, once you have fulfilled your destiny, I will bring you back as promised."/b/i Realization hit the blonde as he remembered his ill feelings the morning before he stepped foot inside the museum.

"What happens to my body in this world?"

**_"You will fall into a coma, but there is no need to worry. Time moves differently in the other world."_**

"But what about my dad? I want him to know that I will fine."

_**"That is easily done."**_ As soon as the words were said, a giant flash of light exploded and a figure came out, in the form of his father.

"Dad!"

"Naruto! Where am I?"

"In the dream world."

"What?"

"No time to explain, but it seems that I am going on a journey now and I'm kind of scared but I think this is the only way to get back to you. I know this is unexpected for the both of us, but when I come back I'll be a son you could be proud of."

"I already am proud of you." The two hugged each other and the father turned his attention to the gigantic figure looming over them. "We meet again."

_**"So we do, mortal."**_

"You know him dad?"

"He is called the Kyuubi… a nine tailed creature of malice; he is built of pure energy." Naruto looked at his father in astonishment.

_**"There are many things you do not know of. Once you enter the world I am about to send you to, you will stumble upon things that you could have never dreamed of. Even your father could not tell you of your heritage but soon, you will find out."**_ Naruto hugged his father once more before walking through the painting.

"Will he be safe?"

bi"Even I do not know of such things, only time will tell."/b/iThen everything was surrounded by a bright light and Naruto's father woke up from his sleep. He jolted right up only to look down on his son's peaceful looking face.

"I wish you all the best, come back safe… son."

TO BE CONTINUED!!!


	2. Ch 1: What's In a Name?

**Disclaimer:** I don't own this obviously, Masashi Kishimoto owns the Naruto series and I have no affiliation with the Naruto series or whatsoever plus I don't make any money from this story.

A/N: Special thanks to my readers and reviews!

* * *

To Transcend My Wings

: : Chapter 1: : What's In A Name?

* * *

Naruto was engulfed by a soft white light as soon as he had walked through the painting and he found himself in the middle of the forest in a black, mesh tank top underneath a soft skin tight camouflage green vest that is only zipped up half way through. He also found himself wearing a black, slightly loose cargo pants with a weapon holster attached to his left leg plus his shoes were now replaced with a perfectly fitted sandal of some kind making it extremely comfortable to walk in.

_**"Where am I now?"**_ Naruto thought as he wandered through the forest for a while before a shuriken was thrown at him. Naruto jumped back on instinct before another surge of shuriken came at him. This time, Naruto froze on the spot and he couldn't help but think that he's gonna die even before his so called journey has started. Just before the shuriken made contact, another figure stepped in to intercept the attack and deflect them.

"Stay here," was all Naruto heard as the figure standing before him disappeared once more in a flash only to reappear behind the attacker, sitting atop the adjacent tree, killing him in a split second. His savior jumped back down and looked over the boy he had saved once more before turning away and walking in the opposite direction.

"You should really be careful."

"I-" Naruto tried to explain but was cut off-

"It's not safe for someone like you to move away from your village without protection."

"Look! I just got here and I don't even know where I am! Cut me some slack!" Naruto looked at the taller man thoroughly pissed off at the cold demeanor. When he was saved by the guy a few moments ago, he presumed that the other would at least hear him out before dismissing him.

"Hn."

"Gah! You're unbelievable, you know that! Here I am trying to explain that I don't even know where I am yet you won't even bother hearing me out! And what's with the one syllable grunt! I'm gonna kill that stupid fox if I ever see him again…" Naruto kept rambling on and on about everything annoying him about the man standing in front of him, but what got the attention of his savior was when he mentioned something about a fox and something about coming from a different time and place.

"What did you just say?"

"Huh? Something about you being so cold?" The man suddenly found himself getting quite a bit irritated at the blonde in front of him; he couldn't pinpoint it but something about the blonde boy just screamed outsider.

"Something else entirely, a fox?"

"Oh, that one part about a big fox and he had these huge tails and he was kind of scary now that I think about it-" Once again, Naruto was cut off from his rambling.

"The Kyuubi?" asked the man, all the while keeping his cold demeanor intact, which, in turn, made his question come out like a low growl. However, the blonde was still oblivious to everything around him as he glared at the man for interrupting him from his rambling once more. Naruto stood still waiting for the man to speak up again, but seeing that it probably wouldn't happen anytime soon, Naruto decided to pipe up once more when he realized that he was a bit hungry.

"Yeah, now I'm kind of a bit hungry mister. Do you have any food to eat mister?"

"Stop calling me mister will ya! I'm not much older than you, you know! I'm guessing you're around 18 or 19?"

"I'm 18 and currently a senior in high school! But you still didn't answer my question; do you any food on you?" Naruto's eyes glazed over at the thought of the raven haired individual sharing any food as the said individual reached for something on his small pouch. Naruto looked defeated when he saw a small scroll come out instead, the small flicker of emotion did not go by unnoticed by the other boy.

"I thought you wanted something to eat?"

"Yeah! But that's not food! Don't you have any chocolate or something? I asked for food not paper." The taller figure let out an amused chuckle as he opened up the scroll and summoned up something to eat.

"Waah! How- ho- how'd you do that!"

"I use this scroll to summon up food that I placed inside."

"Wow!" Naruto stood amazed at what he had just seen. "That sure beats bringing a lunch box to school."

"Lunch box?" asked the other to his companion while handing him a steaming bowl of Miso Ramen.

"Figures you wouldn't know what it is… I don't even know exactly where I am and by the looks of what you have just done, you aren't just a simple civilian either," Naruto paused before answering the other's question, "It's like a small box where you put food that you prepare beforehand so you can bring it anywhere."

"Hn." While trying to contemplate the blonde's words, the raven haired person became lost in thought on what to do with the blonde.

"What's your name mister?" asked Naruto while slurping up his ramen.

"I said stop calling me mister!"

"I would once you tell me your name so I can stop calling you 'mister,' got it!"

"It's Sasuke."

"Sasuke? That's a nice name. Thank you for the food by the way."

"No problem, but you're gonna have to come with me for now. I'm taking you back to my village to meet with our leader." Naruto's eyes widened and his throat constricted as he thought of ways that the village people could torture and kill him. He even thought of one where he was being skinned alive in an interrogation.

"Oi! What weird things are thinking of now?!" Sasuke couldn't help but be amused as the blonde in front of him went pale, all the while his face contorted to fear and disgust.

"N-nno-nothing!" Naruto stood straighter than he has ever had in his whole life as he was interrupted out of his dream world.

"Hn, then tell me your name?"

"Naruto- Naruto Namikaze."

"Lie!" Naruto was taken back at the accusing word that the man in front of him just spat out. He couldn't comprehend what it is that he just said to offend the other, seems like there's something about his name that the other did not like.

"I'm not lying bastard! You don't believe me? I don't really care but-" and for the last time, Sasuke interrupted him by hitting him at the back of the neck causing him to black out. Before the body could fall to the ground, Naruto was caught by the raven and carried bridal style before both of them vanished in a puff of smoke and reappearing in front of a desk stacked with scrolls and unfinished paperwork.

"What now? I'm still not done with this Shiz-" A blonde woman peaked through to see that it wasn't who she was expecting to see. Instead, she saw Sasuke cradling a sleeping blonde. She couldn't help but raise her eyebrow instead.

"Who's that? A missing-nin? Although I don't recognize him."

"Lady Tsunade. I found this boy around the perimeter of the village, but the strangest thing is that he said his name is Naruto _**Namikaze.**_"

"What?" This certainly caught the attention of the busty blonde headed woman. She hurriedly took the boy from the raven's arms and teleported all three of them to presumably a hospital if the bed and atmosphere wasn't any indication.

"Did you use a sleeping jutsu?"

"No, just knocked him out from the back of the head." With a nod of understanding Tsunade's palms started to glow bright green as she placed he hands onto the place where the blonde was hit. Naruto woke up from what he assumed to be a wonderful dream until the sight of a pale raven haired man and a busty blonde invaded his line of sight.

"Gah! Who are you?!" Naruto was in a state of panic as he surveyed his surroundings. He noticed that he must be in a hospital if the sterilized smell were any indication.

"I'm the leader of this village, my name is Tsunade, we're not here to hurt you but I do want to ask a few questions from you."

"What question?"

"Hold on." Tsunade did a few quick hand signs that the blonde caught quickly before she said, "Sound Barrier Jutsu."

"Jutsu? Wha?" Naruto was bewildered as to what exactly is going on. First he was almost attacked and killed then those weird jutsus then summoning and his head was spinning from confusion. _**"Just where exactly am I?"**_ thought the blonde.

"Well, you see, I just used my jutsu to put a sound barrier around us to prevent anyone else from hearing what we are talking about."

"I don't get this whole jutsu thing but I'm pretty sure that it's something that only this world is able to produce, isn't it?"

"What do you mean when you say this world?" asked the previously silent raven.

"Oh! That's right! You don't know yet… well, you see, this may be hard to believe but I came from another world to protect this world and mine."

"I don't see how you could do anything if I was able to knock you out so easily."

"I never said I was powerful or something like that… I don't even know what I am supposed to do- I mean, it's one thing to say it then another to do it." Tsunade tried to grasp what exactly it is that the boy had just said, and something triggered in her mind.

"Call Jiraiya here at once." The raven nodded in understanding before he poofed away once more.

"I think I know what's going on now," said Tsunade as she began to explain to Naruto about a prophecy she had once heard, "I know this may seem off beat as well but you wouldn't happen to know about the prophecy of the stars do you?"

"I don't think so, why do you ask?"

"It's just because in the forbidden heaven scroll, it is said that a child of destiny will appear bringing forth life and destruction in its wake, but all is not lost for the child alone can be salvation to all worlds."

"That prophecy sounds so much like the one Kyuubi-sama told me."

"You've met the keeper of the elements?" asked Tsunade in astonishment.

"Yeah, he sent me here. He said that I'm supposed to save my world and this world from colliding or whatever that means."

"So it must be true you must be-" just then, another cloud of smoke appeared only to disperse a moment later to reveal the raven haired fellow followed by a white haired man.

"You called for me Tsunade?" asked the white haired man who must be Jiraiya.

"Yeah, and I believe that we have found the child of destiny." This interesting bit of information was all that was needed to rouse Jiraiya's curious nature. He turned his attention to the boy and looked him over as if sizing him.

"I'm not impressed… he looks just like any old brat in the village."

"Who are you calling a brat, old man?!" Naruto couldn't help but retort as he was immediately sized up by the newcomer. This still did not deter the older man from his opinions as he tried to grab hold of the boy's shirt. Naruto felt panic rising as the older man's hand came close and a sudden blue glow enveloped him only to thrust forward throwing the white haired man towards the wall behind him. Sasuke and Tsunade, surprised at the turn of events, stood still while gaping from the boy to the man trying to comprehend what had just happened.

"Did he just use a jutsu without hand signs, hokage-sama?" Tsunade, speechless for once, only muttered a simple reply in return.

"I think so." As Tsunade looked at the blonde once more, she noticed that the other had once again fainted while Jiraiya was still dizzy from the impact.

"I think we're gonna have our hands full for a while Lady hokage." Said Sasuke in a serious yet amused tone and the hokage couldn't help but agree.

TO BE CONTINUED!!!

* * *

A/N: Umm, I don't know whether or not to capitalize the word hokage or not, but if anyone knows... let me know??


	3. Ch 2: First Guardian

**Disclaimer:** I don't own this obviously, Masashi Kishimoto owns the Naruto series and I have no affiliation with the Naruto series or whatsoever plus I don't make any money from this story.

Thanks to you readers and reviewers! Also thanks to black55widow for answering my question from the last chapter!

* * *

To Transcend My Wings

: : Chapter 2: : First Guardian

* * *

_**"Now's not a good time to be sleeping, your friend was right, you do pass out on the most opportune times,"**_ the nine-tailed fox came into existence once more before the blonde as he was unintentionally summoned by the blonde in his dreams.

"Where am I?" asked Naruto with a groan coming from his lips only to signify an oncoming headache.

_**"You summoned me, or don't you remember?"**_ sneered the fox as he was interrupted from his slumber.

"All I remember was passing out after I threw off the big guy with the weird white hair."

_**"Don't you mean, you fainted?"**_

"Nope, I passed out!" Naruto defended as he thought that fainting would seem girlier than passing out. Just before the fox could interject with another jive Naruto had questions that needed to be answered and fast, "Since you're here, answer me this, where exactly am I, I mean out of this dream world. There are these people that could do freaky things! It's awesome but kind of weird in a way. Are they like magical beings?"

_**"Hahaha,"**_ the fox was amused of the imagination of the blonde boy in front of him. Seriously though, the fox didn't expect the blonde to be so at ease with everything so far, he presumed that the boy would have been screaming and shouting from everything that he has encountered so far. So he decided to help the boy out just a little before his life-force left the dream and returned to the alternate plane. _**"Very well, I shall explain to you everything that's been happening so far. I have little time so I'd have to pass knowledge on to you a little differently."**_

"Wait! Stop! I'm not sure about this!" The blonde tried to flee before the gigantic tail of the fox enveloped him and he was surged with knowledge and history of the land he now walks on. A few seconds passed by and the fox was once again gone as felt his consciousness being thrust out of his mind.

* * *

Naruto sat up from the hospital bed, groaned once more as the initial crick in his neck intensified.

"Finally woke up."

"Huh? Who are you? Where's the blonde lady and uh- the scary white haired guy from before and that uptight looking guy?" asked Naruto as he looked at the person in front of him wearing what he now knows as an ANBU outfit. He looked over the man standing before him wearing what appears to be a mask depicting a hawk along with a silver flak jacket on top of a black fitted jumpsuit with his hair in a loose ponytail trailing behind.

"I was put as a bodyguard for you per request of the lady Hokage."

"Ah… I see… do I really need a bodyguard?"

"That is for the Godaime to determine once she looks you over."

"I see, so what's your name?"

"I am not allowed to divulge my real identity, but you could call me Hawk."

"Oh, right? ANBU elites are all pretty secretive… forgot about that part." If Naruto could only see through the mask then he would see the arched eyebrows of the man. The man became skeptical of the boy in front of him as he recalled a previous conversation from the Godaime. He was told that the boy knows nothing of where he is now for he seemed to have come from a different land entirely. However, now, the boy just unintentionally admitted that he knew of the ANBU, which he knew he hasn't told the boy of his rank.

"Stay here… I'll call up the Hokage, she said she wanted to talk to you." Naruto sat up from the bed straighter as he waited for the busty blonde to arrive as the other man teleported away. He didn't have to wait long for the blonde suddenly appeared in a poof of smoke with the other man behind her.

"Let me look you over and make sure that you are alright," said the Hokage as she focused chakra on to her palms and hovered them over Naruto's head before the green colored chakra retreated from his body after the analysis was done.

"Lady Tsunade? I have a few requests from you if I may?" asked Naruto in a sickly sweet voice. Naruto thought that it would get through to the other blonde better but all he got was a quick swipe to the back of his head. "What was that for? I was trying to ask nicely!"

"That's why! It was just a little creepy." The silent guy behind them couldn't help but suppress a small smile from marring his face. For once, he was thankful for the mask.

"Fine! I'm just gonna say it now! I need to travel the lands in search of the 9 guardians of lore." Tsunade was caught off-guard at the request of the blonde boy. She was sure that he knew nothing of the lands but now it seems that there is some confidence in his voice that struck her as odd.

"This is just getting too weird. Don't move," Tsunade, once again, did a couple of hand signs but before she could activate the jutsu from earlier, but Naruto beat her to it and used it before her all the while calling out, "sound barrier jutsu!" Tsunade stood in shock as the blonde was able to use a jutsu and learn it just by watching her use it one time.

"Okay… Explain…" Tsunade and the man behind her stood in further shock as Naruto explained that Kyuubi did something in his dream that gave him knowledge about the ninja world. He also explained that he is now able analyze and break down jutsus and copy them as long as there is no bloodline limit involved which made his senses act like a sharingan. This time, it was Tsunade's turn to pass out from information overload.

"Did I kill her?" asked Naruto towards the silent man.

* * *

It wasn't until a few moments later that Tsunade woke up and found the blonde boy sitting on the bed staring at her as she scrambled to sit up from where she currently is still sitting on.

"How did I-"

"Oh! Hawk-sama over there helped pick you up and sit you down when you fainted." Tsunade was still struggling with how much things have changed from dealing with a gun-shy blonde to a half confident blonde. It's almost like dealing with a bi-polar kid jacked up on sugar.

"Okay, so you need to travel the lands? I'm gonna have to issue you a full shinobi team for this then."

"How come? I don't need a whole 3-man team. No one even knows who I am yet."

"I can't take that chance, you see, another village was able to get information of the arrival of the child of prophecy and Orochimaru has taken an interest in you."

"That fast? I've only been here for a day and something here, right?"

"Actually… no, you were asleep for 3 days prior."

"That's weird, it didn't feel like 3 days-" Before Naruto was able to babble, which he was known for, another figure appeared the same way only this one appeared to be either a chunin or jonin but he couldn't tell because he couldn't see the tattoo on the arm.

"Hokage-sama, something's come up and I think you need to see this."

"Alright, by the way, this man here is Kakashi," Tsunade then looked over to Naruto's direction and introduced them, "might as well introduce you too- Naruto this man is Kakashi and the one here is named Itachi, please remove your mask Itachi-san."

"Alright Hokage-sama." The ANBU member pulled off his mask revealing porcelain skin that looks delicate yet firm. Naruto couldn't help but stare to this man's resemblance to the man who previously saved him, but this man had an aura that Naruto could only describe as sensual yet dangerous. Even looking into his eyes, he found himself being dragged into those obsidian pools. The only thing that dragged him from his almost drooling was the voice of Kakashi that penetrated his hearing.

"Ooh, seems like he's crushing on the eldest Uchiha heir." Naruto was flabbergasted at the thought that he was caught drooling over the raven haired guy. Naruto couldn't help himself as he jumped from his spot and held out his hand for the raven haired man to shake.

"Seems like we're lost in his world," said Kakashi towards the stunned Hokage.

"Nice to meet you." Itachi extended his hand towards the blonde and once their hands connected, a blinding light engulfed the two only to disappear as quickly as it appeared. The only thing was that, now, Itachi's sharingan flared and stayed active as he held on to his head trying to get rid of the headache that came from nowhere. Naruto was far worse from the two as he clutched his stomach. Tsunade helped the boy back onto the hospital bed and took off the boy's shirt as a soft red glow came from the boy's stomach.

Once the shirt was off, a bright red light formed a kanji of the word, 'moon' and stayed there like a tattoo. While this was happening, Kakashi helped Itachi over to the seat beside the bed and this time, the kanji for 'moon' appeared on the back of his hand and stayed there like the blonde's. Once the pain subsided, Naruto was left panting and the Uchiha wasn't any better.

"So I guess Itachi-san is one of the guardians," murmured Tsunade.

"Guardian of what?" asked Kakashi still amazed at what he had just seen. It was Naruto that provided the answer to that question as he regained his breathing.

"Guardians of the nine elements. It seems Itachi-san is the protector of the moon, and the other eight are the sun, sound, water, fire, wind, lightning, earth, and star." To be a guardian means to have great power.

"What exactly happened to my sharingan, it's changed I can sense chakra much more clearly now and my power levels have surged as well?" asked Itachi as he too regained his bearings.

"From what I know, you have gained the eternal mangekyou as soon as I touched you." Itachi was surprised at Naruto's knowledge of his bloodline limit, "From what I gathered, the only way to gain a mangekyou is by pushing your limits further than is possible or by killing who means the most to you." All other occupants of the room remained stunned, only Itachi knew of this fact as he had killed his best friend not too long ago due to the fact that he had helped try to stage a coup. Itachi had grieved hard on his loss that day and thus was able to attain mangekyou. Now, Kakashi intervened once more to get back on the task at hand.

"You really need to see this now, Hokage-sama."

"Very well." Without warning, Itachi scooped up Naruto bridal style and all occupants of the room teleported to the top of the Konoha gates to see what all the fuss was about. What they saw shocked them.

TO BE CONTINUED!!!

* * *

A/N: Thanks for reading!


	4. Ch 3: Fire and Lightning

**Disclaimer:** I don't own this obviously, Masashi Kishimoto owns the Naruto series and I have no affiliation with the Naruto series or whatsoever plus I don't make any money from this story.

A/N: I decided to post the next chapter since the last one was kind of short... thanks again!

* * *

To Transcend My Wings

: : Chapter 3: : Fire and Lightning

* * *

The group was met with quite a sight as soon as they arrived. Sasuke laid beaten on the ground along with Jiraiya while Orochimaru sat atop his snake summon, Manda, with the Sound four and Kabuto acting as his body guards. The Four of the sound nins made a barrier from four corners, effectively shielding Orochimaru and the others from further attacks from the present shinobi and trapping the other two inside as well.

"It's been quite a while Tsunade."

"Not quite long enough, Orochimaru" hissed Tsunade upon laying eyes on her old teammate, "What have you done?!"

"They're alive… for the time being, but I have a proposal to make," Orochimaru didn't wait for Tsunade to respond, "I want the newcomer… from what I've heard, he would make such a lovely test subject."

"Why do you think that I would allow such a thing to happen?!"

"Because you wouldn't want more lives to be lost today."

"I'm Hokage, and that comes before everything else!"

"In the expense of your fellow shinobi's lives?" This struck a guilty cord within Tsunade as she recalled the people that she'd lost in the shinobi world… her love, and brother. Tsunade was torn in trying to make her decision, she could save fellow shinobis or rather throw the child of prophecy to a den of lions, metaphorically speaking of course. While the situation came at an impasse, Itachi looked down at the boy he still held. The boy's eyes glowed white for a moment and Itachi saw the same vision that the boy had just seen.

"Lady Hokage? It's okay, trade me," said Naruto as he hopped off Itachi's arms.

"But-"

"No buts, they need help now and if I could help them then so be it. Don't worry, I have a feeling something incredible is about to happen." Tsunade looked at the boy confused but the nod that Itachi gave her a little sense of ease. Tsunade nodded in slight agreement but before she could voice any further distress to the matter, Naruto and Itachi disappeared and reappeared in front of the barrier that the sound-nins have made.

"Wise choice, little boy," said Orochimaru as a small sly smile appeared on to his face.

Naruto looked through the barrier and saw Sasuke's writhing form, the mark on the boy's neck flared darkly just before the boy passed out. Naruto lowered his head and took Itachi by the hand before extending his other hand to touch the barrier. The spectators raised their voice in warning but Naruto knew the consequence of touching the barrier. Itachi's moon symbol glowed a deep red enveloping Naruto and once Naruto's hand touched the barrier, it broke down and became completely shattered leaving the four shinobis who activated the jutsu in a state of paralysis. The remnants of the barrier disentangled back into chakra and surrounded the four in a pyramid leaving them no room to move, or risk getting killed.

"What power!" Orochimaru stood sneering at the scene and everyone stood still with their eyes wide and mouths gaping open, "I must have that power!" Orochimaru attacked without warning while the blonde newcomer was still winded. He was met with resistance as Kakashi stood before him kunai drawn against the snake blade protruding from Orochimaru's mouth. (AN: just so you know… I think Orochimaru is a bit perverted with all the licking and stuff that he does…)

Itachi and Tsunade took action as well. Itachi and Kabuto went head to head while Tsunade, now guarded by the available ANBU, went to aid Sasuke and Jiraiya. Tsunade first healed Jiraiya and started to work on Sasuke but the seal is somehow rejecting the healing chakra thus leaving Sasuke in a vulnerable state.

* * *

Meanwhile, Itachi, activated his newly formed mangekyou and instantly trapped Kabuto in his world. Kabuto felt himself pulled into Itachi's tsukuyomi where he experienced all the pain that he and his master, Orochimaru, had once delivered to their so-called test subjects.

* * *

Once Kabuto was effectively trapped, Itachi went to aid his brother, but none of his jutsu could have helped at that moment. Tears poured down his eyes as he cradled his brother's head onto his lap. Itachi knew that he looked up to him, but never before had he tried to show him just how much he truly cared as well.

"Le-Let me help him," Naruto struggled to get back onto his own feet.

"Your body can't deal out anymore damage," intervened Itachi.

"Please let me, even if this is the last thing I do… I know of a way to free him from the curse seal, I will need you to keep Orochimaru preoccupied and I need Kakashi here, QUICKLY!" Tsunade proposed to help keep Orochimaru preoccupied while Itachi and her took over the fight between Kakashi and Orochimaru.

Itachi pulled out his katana and attacked Orochimaru while his guard appeared to be down. Orochimaru sidestepped the swipe of the sword and jumped back.

"He needs you Kakashi sensei." Kakashi nodded in understanding although he was at a loss for what exactly is it that he can do to help. As soon as he approached Naruto took his hand and they both glowed a deep pink that turned bright blue. This time, Kakashi gained the kanji of Lightning on the back of his hand similar to Itachi. It only took a second more before Naruto regained his breathing, and even without looking, he knew that the kanji for Lightning was now tattooed onto his stomach. Kakashi's eyes turned deep black and for a second Kakashi thought he lost the sharingan eyes that his once teammate had given him. A few moments later, both his eyes gathered chakra and this time his eyes turned blood red before a modified version of the mangekyou sharingan appeared as well.[AN: this is Kakashi's mangekyou in the manga and anime.]

"What happened to my eyes?"

"I'm not sure but now that you're a guardian, I suppose the power accelerated you chakra patterns and carried the bloodline limit to the other eye as well."

"Thank you."

"Thank later, help me now."

"What am I supposed to do?"

"Place two of your fingers on my forehead and direct a steady stream of chakra and don't waver or I could die and Sasuke wouldn't be able to survive."

Without missing a beat, Naruto placed two fingers onto Sasuke's neck where the heaven seal was placed and does a couple of one handed seal that Kakashi has never seen done. Kakashi also places two of his fingers on Naruto's forehead before allowing a steady stream of chakra to travel onto Naruto's system. It looked like nothing was happening but the seal on Sasuke's neck started flaring again but this time Naruto's and Kakashi's chakra flowed onto the spot and started to break it down. Sasuke started screaming from the pain but Naruto told him that everything would be okay later on and he just needed to endure the pain for now. Still unrelenting, Naruto kept going through a series of one-handed signs.

Itachi and Tsunade looked away from Orochimaru for a moment as soon as they heard Sasuke's blood curdling screams. Even Orochimaru stood stunned as the seal he had placed onto the boy a couple of years back during the chunnin exams started to break. He was now really impressed of the boy and wanted him all the more. After the initial shock subsided, Itachi activated his newly formed mangekyou and he was able to perform Amaterasu without having a hard time from the after effects. Orochimaru, unable to quickly get away, manipulated Manda to coil around him to act as a shield. Manda took the brunt of the hit and the snake's body burned so quickly that he lost his life even before he was able to go back to his own world. In a moment, Manda's body lay lifeless on the ground. Then another scream took their attention.

"Aaah! This is it! Once I break the seal, call Tsunade to heal Sasuke, but do not touch my body until my own transformation is complete."

"What transformation?... come on, answer me!"

"I'm sorry, but the only way to take off the heaven seal from Sasuke at this moment is to transfer it. I'm transferring it to me," Naruto paused for a moment, "so please just do as I say." All Kakashi could do now is nod and follow exactly what the blonde wanted. Naruto finally broke the seal once he felt the seal transfer to him. His body convulsed from the foreign malicious chakra that flooded his system. Kakashi was starting to panic before he strengthened his resolve and fetched Tsunade to heal Sasuke now. Tsunade, however, was already prepared and she sent her healing chakra onto the raven haired boy the moment she reached him.

"Seems like the boy now has my seal. Very well, me and my companions are now leaving, for soon, that boy will long for me. Until then Ho-ka-ge." Orochimaru disappeared in an instant with Kabuto in tow. The other nins have been able to free themselves from their 'prisons' the moment Naruto took on the seal and disappeared as well, more likely back to their hideout.

"How is my brother, Hokage-sama?" asked Itachi as he neared his brother.

"He will be fine, Itachi-san." Relief filled Itachi as soon as he heard that his brother would be fine, but it didn't last long. He stared at the blonde's writhing body. He wanted to touch the blonde in hopes of easing the pain, but Kakashi pulled back his hand just as quickly.

"You mustn't Itachi-san. It's too dangerous for now, he wants us to wait." Itachi forcibly nodded, he would follow but it didn't mean he had to like it.

"A-ni-ki?" groaned Sasuke as his own strength returned.

"Hn." Itachi recoiled back into himself as he saw Naruto in pain but couldn't do a thing about it. It took a while for Naruto to stop whimpering from the pain but by then, Sasuke was fit enough to walk again. He was the first one to walk up to the blonde with Itachi, Tsunade and Kakashi trailing behind. Jiraiya had also woken up during the fight but he couldn't move his body due to chakra exhaustion and all he could do was stare in awe of everything that the blonde boy had done in a short amount of time.

When the blonde stopped moving, Sasuke scooped up the blonde and cradled his head onto his arms.

"Please wake up! Please wake up!" Sasuke repeated this sort of mantra as he cradled the blonde's head. Naruto opened his eyes a moment later to reveal dulled blue eyes.

"Seems like my savior needed saving this time," coughed Naruto. Sasuke couldn't help the emotions that threatened to burst, but soon he was crying and his tear drops fell hard. Rain clouds gathered and fell hard that day. Sasuke let all inhibitions fall and soon enough, he felt a burning sensation on the back of his hand. This time the mark of fire was embedded onto in skin while they presumed that the blonde had the mark of the fire as well. Sasuke's sharingan eyes swirled and changed to another modified mangekyou… [AN: this time he had eyes that resembled the ones in the manga… like 4 loops interconnected while Itachi has eyes that looks like Madara's]

"Guess you're my guardian too… I really wanted to go on a journey, but I can't anymore," whispered Naruto through clenched teeth.

"You still can," whispered Itachi back. Naruto could only shake his head to say no.

"I saw this in my vision as well, only I didn't want to show this to you. This is meant to be, by the way I didn't really introduce myself correctly. I'm Naruto, nice to meet you." The last of Naruto's breath left him as his body disappeared as well, vanishing into the clouded night. Itachi and Sasuke looked towards each other and a silent agreement was formed between the two. The rest of them were too shocked to even comment at what had happened.

* * *

Minato lay sleeping beside his child who hasn't woken up yet. Only a couple of hours have passed by since his child crossed over to the other world. He was just slightly worried that he couldn't have come with his child. Naruto's lifeless body suddenly twitched and Naruto quickly sat up and pulled the tube that was helping him breathe. Minato shook awake at the movement coming from the bed. He was surprised that Naruto had woken up so quickly, but none the less, he was overwhelmed with joy.

"Dad? Am I back?"

"Yeah, how did it go?"

"I- uh, I think I died." Minato didn't know how to take the news. On one hand, he was happy Naruto was back but on the other hand, he was thinking that someone had hurt his child and this sent him to a bloody frenzy. The blonde boy saw the bloodlust behind his father's eyes, but he didn't quite understand where it was coming from.

"I'm okay now dad, can we just get outta here now. I've been in a hospital for days now, I'm sick of it."

"It's only been a couple of hours after they declared you in a coma."

"That means time moves differently in both worlds, just like the way Kyuubi said it. I have this feeling that I need to go back though! I don't think I have completed anything yet." Then the room became engulfed into darkness and the Kyuubi appeared before them once more.

_**"It seems that you aren't ready yet."**_

"What do you mean?"

_**"The other world zapped your strength so quickly, much more quickly than I have expected."**_

"I need to go back! something tells me that the one's we have fought aren't the threat."

_**"You are correct, but I cannot take the chance of losing you. I'll let the restored guardians do the rest and let fate take us where we need be."**_

"Please take me back!" Naruto's request fell onto deaf ears as the nine-tailed fox disappeared and they returned back from oblivion.

* * *

"Dad, we're back."

"Yeah, it seems that you can't return back to wherever you had gone."

"It's like I let everybody down." Naruto couldn't help but let tears fall down his face. He cried out all of his frustrations until his body came at its limits.

"You didn't, son."

"I don't know. I just hope everyone's okay." Minato took his son to an embrace letting the boy fall back to sleep once he had exhausted all his energy.

"Tomorrow will be another day," muttered Minato as the he took a deep breath and sat back down.

TO BE CONTINUED!!!

* * *

A/N: ^_^


	5. Ch 4: Home Away From Home

A/N: Oh wow! Thanks to all who read this and those who reviewed! I'm eternally grateful!!  
I have a question though... what is 's policy on lemons?  
I need to know if I have to make a softened version for this site...

Sorry, I'm new here! :) Thanks again!

* * *

To Transcend My Wings

: : Chapter 4: : Home Away From Home

* * *

It's been three days since he had woken up and Naruto couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong, or at least slightly off.

"Oh, man! I'm supposed to be relaxing!" Naruto plopped down onto the couch in the living room to try and sleep instead but his mind was working overtime and he couldn't shake the unease that he was emulating. He tried to keep himself busy to stop himself from dwelling on those thoughts yet nothing was working, how he wished his dad was home, but no luck, his dad was currently at work so he was left at home for the time being.

"This is one of those days that school would be a perfect distraction!" Naruto shouted to let his frustrations out but he was given a week of recovery period before going back to school due to the accident, but no one knew that he actually felt better than before he got into the accident, albeit just physically and not mentally of course.

Naruto strengthened his resolve to keep himself busy so he decided that playing videogames would take his mind out of the things that were bugging him. He started to play a fighting game but it made him think of the battles he had witnessed and decided to switch to an RPG but it also made him think of the adventures that he could have had along with his guardians. In the end, he ended up more depressed than when he first began. So he opted to just lie down on his bed.

All of a sudden, Naruto's thoughts fluttered towards the two brothers. Once he finally took notice of the two, he could really see the similarities between them. They were drop dead gorgeous, that's a given, but Itachi was more cool and composed and the other seemed more reclusive in his own way but able to reign his emotions well.

"Ugh! I'm a deviant! I'm totally crushing on the brothers! What's wrong with me?" Naruto couldn't help it as his thoughts drifted from one brother to the next measuring up what he knew of the two and their pros and cons. His thoughts kept swirling for a while before he finally was able to get some much needed rest, and all too soon his mind was filled by a raven haired figure which left a smile on his face. Moments, later he had fallen asleep.

* * *

It was only a couple of hours later that Naruto woke up and the daylight has long since passed. Upon waking up, Naruto felt so much more exhausted than before he slept. His dreams centered on those he met in the other world. He saw them in various situations, but those situations were never happy. He saw Kakashi on various missions and it was like the man became an emotionless killing machine. Then he saw Tsunade looking so much more run down. What almost broke his heart was that Itachi's eyes looked so emotionless, almost like a porcelain doll's, that looked and acted their part and his brother wasn't faring much better but he still had eyes that showed part of his emotions unlike his brother.

Naruto's aura felt so much heavier after he lingered on his dreams, but he just put it aside thinking that it was just a dream and no way could he be the cause of all those lonely faces he had seen. He barely knew them, aside from the brief moment they spent together, and most of those composed of nothing more than constant battles and questioning. Naruto was so deep in thought that he didn't even notice his father's car pull up the driveway moments ago and is now currently knocking on his door.

"I'm coming in," said a muffled voice through the door. Minato opened it to find his son sitting up on the bed seemingly deep in thought. His heart ached knowing that for some unexplainable reason, his son yearned for something unreachable and he knew that he couldn't help ease the pain that the boy harbored.

"It hurts dad," mumbled Naruto as he looked up to see his dad standing in front of him. His dad only let him take him into a deep embrace, and in turn, Naruto hugged the man back.

"If ever you find some way to return from wherever THERE is then don't hesitate and let your heart lead you, just know… I'm always here for you if you ever need me." Naruto's tears still fell like waterfall that day and the only thing he couldn't ask his father was, _"What if I don't want to or can't come home?"_

"I know you," said Minato as he held on to his son, "Just give me a warning or some kind if ever you decided not to come back, please."

"Why does it seem like you know me better than I do?" asked Naruto rhetorically.

"Not exactly, I've heard you mention a boy's name though when you were sleeping... once or twice since you've been home."

"Oh, whose name was it? I mean, that I mentioned?" By this time, Naruto's hold on his dad loosened and curiosity bloomed.

"Well, if you yourself don't know it yet then I might as well not say."

"Dad!"

"Nope, I'm not telling."

"It's okay, it's better this way."

"So are you planning to look for a way to get back?"

"I am, but I think the key is in the painting in the museum that I saw."

"Okay, I'll take you there with me tomorrow, I'll take the day off."

"No, it's okay dad, I can go by bus… and I'm not sure if I want you there to see me off." Minato nodded in understanding. He knew that he wouldn't be able to just let his son go and his son wouldn't be able to go with a light heart with him being there.

"No bus, but I will drop you off."

"Thanks."

"Okay, now go on downstairs, I bought food… didn't feel like cooking tonight."

"Alright, let's go." The two headed down to eat before they decided to call it a night, each hoping that the morning would bring better news.

* * *

The morning came slow. Naruto slowly peeled himself off of his bed. He hadn't really slept well that night. He tried to analyze his attraction to both the brothers but only came up with the conclusion that he didn't care for Sasuke the same way he did with Itachi. Itachi was more special, almost one of a kind. Sasuke was another thing; he seemed more like a best friend or a very touchy brother. He chuckled a bit thinking that he doesn't even know what having a brother feels like but with Sasuke, he couldn't care less about small details.

Naruto took himself to the showers to get ready. Once done, he went on to his morning rituals and went down to wait for his dad. He knew that Kiba would still have to be at school so he just flipped open his cellphone and texted Kiba just simply asking what's been going on at school and all the regular things for a sense of normalcy.

"You ready to go?" asked his dad as he came down the stairs.

"Yeah." No words were exchanged as they stepped out and headed to the car. The drive all the way to the museum was a rather silent one. Neither one knew what to say, Naruto knew he had to go, and deep inside, Minato knew that as well. Minato just had a harder time trying to let go than he first thought.

* * *

As soon as Naruto got out of the car, a sudden wave of nausea hit him. Somehow, he knew that this was right. He's supposed to be here.

"Alright, dad. I'll see you later."

"Yeah." Their goodbyes were a bit strained but nothing could have made it any better. Naruto just smiled, took his backpack, and went on inside. Minato stared at his son's retreating back for a moment before he, too, left. Naruto strode in, he noticed that there seemed to be a lack of people. If he remembered clearly, there were quite a few people during their field trip. Now, it seemed deserted. With no one to guard anything, Naruto quickly hurried down to the hall where he saw the painting. He failed to notice red chakra envelop his being before fading once more; the cameras around failed to see the boy, as if he was invisible.

"It's here somewhere, I know it." He retraced his steps and had come an almost full circle around the museum before he found the right hall. It was once again, there, that he took notice of the painting. He saw what looks like himself in a wedding kimono with who he presumed to be his significant other standing next to him.

"That's kind of crazy, me married…" If only he could see the face of the stranger's burnt side. Everything about the painting was so regal, well done, yet the man's was something else. Now that Naruto looked more closely, he saw that the face wasn't really burned off, It was more like a shadow.

"A shadow? Why am I married to a shadow?" Naruto examined the painting once more and this time, he took notice of the fox creature's tails glow once more.

"Now I know I'm not just seeing things." Naruto couldn't figure out just what really happened, but the next thing he knew, he was at some sort of a distorted version of his own world. Then the shadow from the painting came to life and transformed into the Nine-tailed fox.

"I'm going to be married to you??"

_**"Silly boy, you haven't realized it yet have you?"**_

"Realized what?"

_**"That this painting is a reflection of you. Look again and notice what the other man is wearing."**_ Naruto did look again and this time, the man wasn't wearing a wedding kimono like before, this time, he was now wearing an ANBU uniform.

"How did the painting change?"

_**"It's not the painting that is changing, it is you. You are connected to destiny itself. Have you ever had your own visions?"**_

"I think so, like those times I knew what to do before anything even happens."

_**"Exactly, but by having those visions, you risk changing the future… your future and others."**_

"Isn't the future kind of like written in stone or something, I mean, how can I just change the future by having visions."

_**"It's not by having them that you change it, not entirely anyway, but it is by acting on them, when you saved that child, you got hurt instead… your future changed, I wasn't supposed to take you back yet."**_

"What do you mean?"

_**"It was ordained that you are taken back on your 20th birthday, but as soon as you changed an outcome of the future, your destiny was also changed."**_

"Are all those changes bad?"

_**"Not entirely, but everything comes with its good or bad, like yin and yang."**_

"Do the bad things outweigh the good I could do with the visions?"

_**"That's a question only you can answer."**_

"I need to go back. Please let me! I'm begging you."

_**"But you are not strong enough. Your soul will die if you force it on another journey."**_

"I know, which is why I need you to take my body there as well."

_**"Do you know the implication if that happens?"**_

"I've thought about it and I know that by having my body in that world I cease to exist in this one."

_**"That is correct."**_

"I just have one favor to ask of you."

_**"Alright, as long as it's in my power to do so."**_

"Please don't let my dad forget me. I don't think I can do this without him. I also want you to let him know that I will miss him and he is never too far away from my heart."

_**"Why don't you just let him know? He's right behind you."**_ Naruto turned around to see the smiling face of his father. His father was smiling even though it hurts to part from his son, and he couldn't contain the tears as they started to run down.

"I knew you were leaving. I'm glad you don't want me to forget about you. Just be careful, 'kay?" the blonde only nodded to answer and (almost) sprinted over to hug his dad.

"Guess I better go." A white light opened a rift in the painting and revealed the portal to the other world. Minato kissed his son's forehead before he faded away.

_**"Very well, now step into the portal and we shall be on our way. Just another word of warning before you cross over, the salvation can mean two things. They are like two sides of the same coin. You can be the savior or the destroyer. Only time will tell."**_

"I don't fully understand it but I am ready to embrace my own future." Naruto felt his own resolve strengthen and he took a deep breath before crossing over. Once Naruto was gone, the distorted space reverted back and the only evidence that Naruto was there, was a cellphone lying on the ground. The painting itself burned instantaneously and nothing was left in its wake but ashes of its former self.

Plus with the camera planted up on the wall, it failed to see anything but the painting flare out as if out of nowhere. Which the detectives who later investigate never found an answer for.

On another part of town, Minato woke from his sleep with silent tears restrained from falling.

"Goodbye son."

TO BE CONTINUED!!!

* * *

A/N: whoo... umm... THANKS! XD


	6. Ch 5: Call of the Stars

A/N: Thank you for reading! I'll be putting up the chapters closer to each other until the most recent chapter... then only time will tell but hopefully you still support me then... THANK YOU AGAIN!

* * *

To Transcend My Wings

: : Chapter 5: : Call of the Stars

* * *

Like before, Naruto found himself on unfamiliar grounds wearing the garments he had the first time he had come here; he noticed that the curse mark that was supposed to have been placed on his neck was missing. His best guess was that since it was just his soul that had crossed over when he returned to his body, he was able to fight it off. Especially since he was in his physical body when he had crossed over... therefore the curse mark did not apply. Another effect, that he had noticed, of having his body and soul as one, was that his chakra reserves felt more powerful, like it was multiplied ten-fold. But for some reason, he couldn't use or acces his chakra. He still felt his chakra seeping through but it was more like a faucet left half-open. He had no way of suppressing it or letting it all out at once. Still though, all in all, he still felt a little bit more powerful than when he had first arrived in the shinobi world.

"Wonder where I am, if only I could find a landmark then maybe I can find my way back." Naruto strolled through the forest where he currently found himself in. It took the better half of the day for him to get out of the forest. He also had managed, once, to walk around in a circle which frustrated him all the more because he knew he was walking in a straight path. Once out, he saw small stack houses which could only mean that he had found others nearby. This way he could ask for his way back to Konoha. Naruto figured that since he didn't have a hitai-ate that represented a ninja from a village, he would just have to pose as a traveler. This wasn't exactly a lie since he wasn't a shinobi from any village after all.

He reached one of the small houses and knocked on the wooden door. He was met by a rather old lady asking him what it is that he had needed. He simply asked for directions and had bid her farewell and thanked her all the same. Naruto started to walk away but the lady stopped him and asked him if he had any place to stay the night. He simply shook his head negatively, and she insisted that he stay over with her family... for the night will come all too soon and she would have hated for him to get caught in the dark.

He took the offered hospitality and followed the lady inside. He was surprised to see that the family she mentioned only consisted of herself and a small cat. He had envisioned a full family consisting of a mother, father, son or daughter, but the sight of the old woman cuddling the cat made his heart swell. It felt like those times that his father and him would just sit down and watch tv together or do anything, just the two of them. He felt nostalgic but he kept himself in check and strode over to the small table in the kitchen of the small house and sat himself on the chair opposite of the old woman.

"I'm sorry for intruding like this, ma'am"

"No trouble at all, son. It's rare for young villagers to travel on these roads. There are only a handful of young'uns in this place after all and call me granny or grandma, I think of everyone here as my family."

"Do you mind if I ask if you have anyone else living with you?"

"It's alright, and the answer to that would be no just me and my cat but we do get visitors from time to time… have you eaten yet?"

"Actually no… now that I think about it."

"Well then , you better eat my famous soup and I would think that you should rest up since I presume you would be leaving in the morning to go back to your village."

"That's right, thank you so much for your hospitality."

"What a nice young man." Naruto blushed a little from the praise he got for his manners. He didn't bother to comment further until the older woman said, "I would like you to have the bed for tonight."

"Oh no! I wouldn't want you to sleep on the floor. I'll just take a blanket and something to lay my head down on."

"What a sweet boy, alright, I'll get you a futon."

"That's alright, I'll get it… you should rest up instead, you seem troubled?"

"It's alright dear, I just really worry about the shinobi of my village." Naruto seemed a little confused, he didn't notice any shinobis when he got to the village, but then again, maybe they were just good in hiding.

"You have shinobis in this small village?"

"Yes, although we are not really part of the five great hidden villages, some time ago, a group of people started studying in the art of the shinobi ways and soon, we got ourselves a small army capable of using ninja arts."

"What brought on the need for ninjas? When I got here, it seemed like a peaceful place."

"You are right about that, we were once peaceful, but one night a shooting star fell from the sky. We valued it at first, since it was rare for something like that to happen, but later on, we found out that the piece of rock was producing some sort of radiation that enhanced chakra. What we didn't know was that the star was actually hurting our people."

"If you know that now, then why keep on doing it?"

"It's not my place to say, but our old leader thought better to stop the star training, but when he died, our new leader declared the village genins to mandatory star training."

"That's horrible! Why doesn't' anyone do anything to stop it?"

"It's not from lack of trying, I'll tell you that much. There were once two great ninjas from our village who tried to stop it but they were killed in the process by our current leader, now their son is living secluded from here but I visit him now and again... though he isn't banished he prefers to keep away from village affairs most of the time."

"So I guess by making example of the boy's parents, the current leader gained power through fear."

"Yes. Let's save this for another day. You must be exhausted from walking all day." The old woman and Naruto got up and Naruto cleaned off the dishes before the old woman told him where to get the futon and other things. Naruto set himself down in the living room instead and proceeded to go to sleep. He wondered why this village seemed so poor considering they had their own shinobis. He also wondered what kind of a man their leader would have to be to destroy lives like that. Soon, the blonde fell into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

Naruto woke up early the next day; he noticed that the sun was just rising up as well. He took the futon and everything else back to where he got them and decided to clean up a little before he left. It was the least he could do for the old woman's hospitality. It only took a couple of hours to clean the dishes, dust around the house, sweep the floor, and make breakfast. Once Naruto was done, he left a note saying that he was very grateful for letting him stay the night but he must be going now.

Naruto was only a couple of minutes away before he heard a screaming onto the far left. He jumped in attention and headed over that way, thinking someone could be seriously hurt. He came upon a clearing where he saw a guy, around his age, attacking someone with what looks like a lion made of chakra.

"Stop! What are you doing?" yelled out Naruto.

"Don't come any closer!" yelled back the mystery man. Naruto noticed that the boy wasn't trying to hurt the villagers directly, he was using his own ninja art to merely keep them back and then drain the others of their star power to save them. Naruto didn't have time to think as the old woman from before appeared behind him to see what all the commotion was about.

"Stop this Sumaru!"

"I need to stop them! My friends and the villagers are in danger if this star training continues!" Naruto looked a little more closely towards Sumaru and found that he is holding a piece of rock which he presumed would be the star they all used for the chakra training. Naruto rushed over to Sumaru's side while Sumaru was busy attacking the oncoming star nins.

"Let me help you," said Naruto as he came towards Sumaru. Sumaru pushed him back and was thrust back as the stone made contact with his skin.

"I don't trust you," growled Sumaru as he used his ninja art to form wings around him. Naruto was able to extract a bit of chakra from the star just by simply grazing it, so he copied the jutsu and followed the young man. Everyone was surprised to see another person, much less a civilian by the looks of it, use the village's secret jutsu.

* * *

Naruto and Sumaru ended up in an open field. Sumaru turned back towards the blonde haired man hoping to get some answers on how the other knew of the Kujaku technique.

"How do you know how to use my village's special technique." Before answering, Naruto looked more closely and analyzed the young man in front of him. The guy wore a hitai-ate of the star village which meant that he was trained by using the star as well. He also took note that the boy's chakra levels could rival a chuunin or jonin in the konoha village.

"It's hard to explain but I can copy most jutsus just by looking." Sumaru looked at the blonde in front of him, skeptical if the blonde had any sort of bloodline limit.

"Are you after the star as well?"

"No, but since you have it, I want to destroy it. After hearing it from grandma, it seems to me that your village is in trouble because of the stone."

"You should just leave, this isn't your problem."

"Probably not, but I am making it my business to do so."

"Leave before I rip you to shreds! Ninja art: Kujaku, Beast," the boy had a chakra flaring out like peacock feathers and all of a sudden the chakra changed form and turned into what looked like a lion ready to pounce.

"I can't leave, and your jutsu is only hurting you so just drop it!" Naruto wanted to persuade the man that he is willing to help but all of a sudden, the boy's chakra came undone and he fell unconscious. At that moment, three ninjas from the village took back the star and the boy with them. The three ninjas, once gone, were replaced by another man who appeared from out of nowhere. Naruto couldn't understand why he couldn't move at all.

"I'm sorry that you were dragged into this mess but you may not be permitted to live." The man disappeared once more and another group of three men came at him from three different directions using the same beast type of jutsu to attack. Naruto overcame the immobilizing jutsu placed on him and he moved quickly to the side and tried to call on his chakra but nothing happened. He almost panicked, but he remembered that he had a purpose for coming to this world again (death not being one of them) so he side-stepped the attack and jumped behind one of the shinobi and knocked him out by delivering a swift and deadly strike to the back of the head. The other two didn't want to retreat so he had no choice but to knock them out as well.

The blonde roped the three guys using the men's shirts since he didn't have anything usable at the moment. Since he was also supposed to be dead, he took the garments and headband of one of the guys and used it as a disguise to get back to the village without anyone gaining suspicion. He ran back towards the village to try and save the boy but he also couldn't help but wonder why he couldn't call upon his chakra when he needed it. He couldn't find a plausible reason so he just focused on saving the boy from their own village leader.

* * *

Once back, he noticed that the people around seemed to be weary of his presence. He concluded that the villagers did not like the way the village was run but couldn't do a thing against their leader in fear of getting killed. He walked along as swiftly as could while trying not to gain suspicion, but he did catch a rumor about the capture of a traitor and is now being held at the hospital for detainment as he passed by.

_**"Why not kill him on the spot if he's branded as a traitor? Only reason to keep him alive is if he was of value."**_ thought Naruto on his way to the hospital. He couldn't ask which one of the buildings is the hospital but a slightly large building caught his eye and he decided to head there first to see if he was right in assuming that it was the hospital.

Thankfully he was.

* * *

Naruto scouted the building to notice that there was a hidden trap door in the west wing of the first floor. He tripped the switched and found himself to what he could only describe as a cave-like hallway. He followed it to the end and he saw Sumaru strapped on to some machines keeping him barely alive. No one was around so he took Sumaru out of the machines and tried to summon up jutsu once more.

This time, Naruto succeeded in summoning up healing chakra and let it run through the boy's system. He could only repair so much of the boy before nothing reacted any longer. This was enough to get Sumaru up and alert. He noticed Naruto beside the small make shift bed with the healing chakra retreating back to its owner.

"Why did you help me?"

"I thought I was clear when I said I wanted to destroy the star."

"We should get going, they're going to fuse parts of the star to the new genins as a way to experiment but I know it's going to kill them." Naruto could see the panic in the boy's eyes so he followed the boy quickly. The two ended up in front of a ceremonial gathering. Three genins were on stand-by to take in a part of the star. The two wondered why the ones present are allowing this kind of thing to happen. Then the old woman who took care of Naruto spoke up.

"We should stop this, we risk killing off our children for one man's ambition!" Several other people also joined in the chorus but were quickly shut up as soon as one of the leader's bodyguards took the old woman and brought her forth to the man.

"That's Akahoshi, we need to stop him before he harms anyone else."

"Grandma is gonna get hurt, we need to act now." Sumaru took action first and summoned his ninja art kujaku to take down a few of Akahoshi's followers. Naruto used a shadow clone to take the genins away safely and to sneak up on the enemy so he could take the star in all the confusion.

"I got it!" yelled out Naruto but he didn't notice a katana coming down from behind him. Sumaru came out of nowhere and pushed Naruto off to the side away from danger, but he was a little late as the star was cut in half. Half of the rock was picked up by Akahoshi and the other half was with Naruto. The villagers were surprised to see Akahoshi take the rock and fuse it onto himself instead. The man doubled over in pain not a moment too soon.

Sumaru went to Naruto's side to help, but as soon as he touched Naruto. A kanji for 'star' appeared on the back of his hand and the piece of the star that Naruto was holding on to was absorbed into Sumaru's body much like with Akahoshi. Naruto felt a slight sting on his stomach which probably was the star sign appearing.

"What's happening to me?" asked Sumaru as waves of pain wracked his body.

"This means, you are my guardian." Concern filled Naruto's eyes as Sumaru kept crying out in pain.

"Guardian?"

"We'll talk later but you need to concentrate your new chakra to overcome the star's effects." Sumaru did as he was told. He felt he could trust this Naruto person and tried to focus his chakra. Then the star sign flared a light purple and he cried out in pain once more.

"You can do it, just hold on a little longer."

Sumaru and Akahoshi doubled over in pain but Akahoshi started to change in physical appearance as the stone inside of him took effect. Sumaru, protected by his newly found element, was able to absorb the star's powers without changing appearance, but not only that, he also noticed that his body was healed completely from the star's radiation. As soon as the two got back to their feet, Akahoshi summoned up a huge beast using his chakra. Sumaru did the same, only his was more powerful than Akahoshi's, but Akahoshi's new body was able to take on damage one right after another. The two battled fiercely, but Akahoshi felt the star's effects on his body and his deformed physical form started to wither. In a matter of minutes, Akahoshi's body was entirely turned to dust. Sumaru also collapsed in exhaustion as his consciousness left him moments later.

* * *

Sumaru woke up the next morning and saw that he still had the star sign on the back of his hands. He got up from what looks like a bed and he wandered down the hall to find Naruto talking to the old woman from yesterday.

"We need to talk," motioned Sumaru towards the blond boy.

"Okay, so talk."

"How's everyone?"

"Shaken but I healed everyone from the damages of the radiation to their bodies."

"You've never told me your name."

"It's Sumaru, and yours?"

"Naruto."

"Tell me what you mean when you called me your guardian."

"You see, short version, there was once a prophecy about a child saving the worlds with the help of the nine guardians and as it turns out I'm the child of prophecy and you're one of my guardians, although I'm not sure how to exactly save the world."

"I guess you're going to need me on your side then."

"More likely, and not only that, I don't think I can perform any jutsu or summon any chakra while away from my guardians."

"What do you mean?"

"I tried healing yesterday but I couldn't summon my chakra after they took you here to rest. I told everyone to come by here if they needed healing."

"Guess that would put you in a difficult decision if we got separated… So how do we find the other guardians?"

"I met three of the other guardians in Konoha village."

"And I'm the fourth."

"Yeah, but I think that we should travel back first so we could regroup then search for the other guardians."

"What about the village?" asked Sumaru.

"The village without the star is no longer any value to other shinobi villages so this place should be peaceful from now on," said the elder woman as she came in from the living room.

"Then I guess this will be a peaceful place just like before the star arrived right?"

"Yes, that is true Naruto. We can now live in peace without worrying over attacking shinobis." Naruto turned back his attention to Sumaru and asked what had been bothering him for a while since before the battle.

"Why did they take you and sedated you rather than kill you on the spot when they knew you were the traitor?"

"That's easy, my power grew exponentially even without the training so they wanted answers, that, I guess, my body could provide."

"I see, it's good that we had stopped it now, I mean, with the star gone there wouldn't be any more star training." Naruto and Sumaru nodded in understanding so within a silent agreement the two bid the old woman a quick farewell and they headed on through the path to the hidden leaf village.

"Is there any reason why you're so excited to get back to the village?"

"Maybe." Naruto let a smile mar his sun kissed face as he raced down out of the village. On the way out there were greeted by smiling villagers thanking them from everything they have done to save them from their former leader. They just smiled back in return and went on their merry way.

"That grin on your face tells me there's someone special you want to see badly!" Sumaru chuckled as soon as he saw Naruto blush and ran ahead as the blushing blond ran to catch up and all the while shouting obscenities.

_"I guess I am excited to see someone."_

TO BE CONTINUED!!!

* * *

A/N: yay! another one down~! Thanks again!


	7. Ch 6: Misty Snakes

**Disclaimer:** I don't own this obviously, Masashi Kishimoto owns the Naruto series and I have no affiliation with the Naruto series or whatsoever plus I don't make any money from this story.

* * *

To Transcend My Wings

: : Chapter 6: : Misty Snakes

* * *

"Orochimaru-sama there have been reports of Itachi Uchiha from the leaf village looking for our hideout," announced Kabuto coming in to Orochimaru's chambers.

"How far is he from here?" asked Orochimaru with a bit of a sneer to his voice.

"About four days away."

"I see, we'll let him roam free for the time being. Is he alone?" inquired the snake sannin.

"No, he's accompanied by his brother… but there are also reports from the Hidden Star Village."

"Has the star been recovered? I need that for my most recent experiment."

"That's the thing, our spy has reported that the star had been destroyed… well, lost to be more precise?"

"Lost? How exactly?"

"It seems that the village leader and one of his subordinates absorbed the stone into their body, the leader has died and no traces of the star could be recovered. The other part of the star is currently unknown."

"Tch, the unpredictability of this incident has proven troublesome. Anything else?"

"Hai Orochimaru-sama! There have also been reports of the vessel you wanted though they are merely rumors."

"Do tell."

"We were told of a blonde haired civilian who resembled the child of prophecy but he did not have the heaven seal on him accompanied by a star-nin though their whereabouts aren't specified yet." This suddenly piqued the curiosity of the snake.

"Hmm? This is too good to pass up, send the sound four to confirm and tell them to report to me immediately so I could get my hands on that boy. I'm going to need a new vessel pretty soon and he has powers simply unimaginable and incomparable to anything we've ever seen."

"Very well, Orochimaru-sama, I'll dispatch them." Kabuto left the snake sannin to ponder the current events while he dispatched the rest of the sound four to tail the rumors about the prophesized child and the guardian. Kabuto could only hear maniacal laughter coming from his master's chambers as he left.

* * *

The two, Sumaru and Naruto, are currently camping out in a clearing near the woods. They had just decided to rest for a bit but Naruto's stomach had decided to make itself known. Sumaru chuckled a bit and decided to hunt for something to eat while the blonde boy foraged for some wood to start a fire. Two came back to the campsite and started to roast the fish he got from the nearby river and some rabbit for meat.

"I don't want to eat the rabbit," mentioned the blonde while cringing as he saw the limp body of the lifeless rabbit.

"How come?"

"They look so… I don't know, I can't explain, but I really don't want to eat them… I'll take the fish instead."

"Okay, here." Sumaru handed over the fish and Naruto put it close to the fire to roast but not before skewering it. Sumaru did the same to the rabbit and they waited for them to cook.

"How old are you exactly, Sumaru-san?"

"I'm turning 19 this coming week."

"Wow! I'm turning 19 on October 10…" A pause came before the blonde muttered something, "I'm always the youngest." Sumaru merely chuckled as he intently watched the blonde in front of him. It would seem that the boy right in front of him still held some innocence to him assuming that he's seen how the shinobi half lives.

"Something on my face?" asked the blonde as he noticed the other watching him instead of eating the food presented right in front of him. Sumaru shook his head and began to eat. Once the pair had consumed their lot, they noticed that it would be too late to travel, even a short distance, so they set up their sleeping tent. Once done, they set their sleeping bags inside and proceeded to sleep.

"Night, Suma-chan," yawned Naruto through sleepy eyes.

"Goodnight Naruto." In only a matter of Seconds, the two let the dark promise of oblivion lull them to sleep.

* * *

Once the morning broke, Sumaru was the first one up. He stretched lightly but he cramped up realizing that his whole body was a bit sore. The blonde next to him had thrashed around the night before and had managed to unzip himself from his sleeping bag and half-way lay on top of him. He regretted ever listening to get only one tent like the blonde had wanted.

Before they had left the village, Naruto had protested that they would only need one tent since there were only two of them but it turns out that Naruto isn't the most graceful sleeper. If there was ever any case for strapping anyone down while sleeping, Naruto was it.

Now fully awake, Sumaru couldn't help but smile as the blonde in front of him was now cuddling the sleeping bag that he was just on. The blonde was a weird sleeper indeed. He was snoring a bit loudly while drool seeped from his mouth while smiling like an idiot. Sumaru, once he finally grasped the blonde's sleeping habits, couldn't help but laugh a bit loudly. This was enough to rouse the still sleeping blonde.

"Wh-(yawn) What's so funny Sumaru-chan?" asked Naruto as he rubbed the sleepiness from his eyes. Now fully alert, Naruto looked at the boy in front of him doubled over while laughing his head off.

"Have you ever watched yourself sleep?" asked Sumaru as he finally got a hold of himself. Naruto reddened in the face as he realized just what it was the other boy was implying. Kiba had always complained that once he sleeps, he's always all over the place and his face would twist like an idiot. There was also this one incident that Minato had taped his son sleeping with the help of Kiba. The two almost laughed themselves to death while watching Naruto smile, drool and snore at the same time.

"Naruto-kun? Are you there?" Naruto was pulled from his tiny mid-daydream. The thought of his best friend and father almost broke his heart but he knew he had a new destiny to fulfill and the times they had spent had not been for naught.

"Yeah, should we go get ready?"

"It would be best."

"Okay." Naruto had first done his morning rituals while Sumaru packed the tent and the sleeping bags along with their other stuff.

* * *

"Aniki, would you stop already or at least slow down!" Sasuke's pleading fell on to deaf ears as Itachi scourged the land for any traces of Orochimaru's hideout. They had already found fifteen prior to the one they had just found and each of them had not lead back to the snake. Sasuke tried to keep up with his brother but his stamina was waning. They have been on the move for months already ever since the blonde had disappeared. Itachi became something else that day, like he lost a part of himself. Tsunade tried to keep Itachi inside the village for his own sake but the look Itachi gave to anyone in his way was nerve-wracking, even to the Hokage.

"If you're tired otouto, then go home." Itachi kept his senses in check as he sped up, jumping from tree to tree looking for anything out of the ordinary or if any trace of the snake's chakra was present.

"I'm not going home without you." Sasuke knew that Itachi was only doing this in revenge. It seems that the blonde had some hold on the older Uchiha that he couldn't comprehend.

"Sasuke." Itachi got Sasuke's attention when he stopped. He had just activated his sharingan when he noticed concentrated chakra to his left. Sasuke got the hint and he also activated his sharingan. He could now clearly see chakra in color and measure one's power even before they started to battle. He felt nostalgic as he thought of the blonde that had allowed him to gain this form of the sharingan. He could relate to his brother in wanting to see the blonde boy again, but it seems that his brother felt more than just a want to revenge the, presumed dead, boy.

Not a few seconds later, a bomb was detonated a few meters in front of them. The two brothers had managed to jump out of harm's way as an unknown enemy stood before them. In place of the detonated bomb a figure stood tall, the man had blonde hair whose bangs were swept up to one side of his face, and ponytailed loosely to the back; he also donned a black cloak decorated with red clouds on the trimmings complete with a hitai-ate of the Iwagakure(Rock Village), obviously slashed across the sign, which would mean that he is a missing-nin from his village. Sasuke also noticed a ring on his right index finger that read as Seiryu (the Azure Dragon).

"Like my art, yeah?" Itachi didn't even bother answering the other as he lunged forward, kunai drawn. Itachi's sharingan flared for a moment before he reached their opponent. Itachi's speed was staggering but something was off, thought Sasuke.

"Aniki, we need to retreat." Itachi did not heed his brother as he kept attacking throwing one ninjutsu after another coupled with shurikens thrown in between. Nothing was landing on the mysterious figure that appeared before them. All of Itachi's attacks either came up a little short or the normal strength behind his attacks was lacking. Sasuke readied to attack, but Itachi only sent a deadly glare his way to keep him from interfering. The two went on for a while; the older Uchiha was the only one attacking while the other was simply doing his best to avoid the attacks. Sasuke couldn't figure out why he wasn't attacking until Itachi fell to the ground, mid-step, panting.

"Aniki, you're chakra is draining," Sasuke turned his attention to the other accusingly, "what did you do?!" Sasuke wanted to elicit an answer from the grinning man in front of him but he couldn't do a damn thing if he had to worry about Itachi, who looked almost ready to collapse.

"Seems like he doesn't have it yet… which means that you don't either," said the blonde. Sasuke mulled over the man's words, thinking what it was that he and his aniki was supposed to have. Sasuke merely glared back at the figure standing in front of him and his brother.

"Hehe, you're fun! Let's meet again, 'kay? And the name is Deidara so don't forget, yeah?" The man, apparently named Deidara , disappeared on moment later leaving behind a puff of smoke.

"Dammit! Aniki! Something in is sucking away your chakra! We have got to go!" Itachi was far too gone as the guy in front of him had disappeared and he was left panting. Darkness overtook him so quickly that he fell onto the ground without warning. Sasuke was at his side in an instant, he now had no other choice but to take Itachi back up to the village knowing that his brother would not be happy once he woke up.

* * *

"So which way should we go? Left or right?" asked Naruto as they ended up at a fork in the road.

"Not sure, according to the map, the road leads to the same path at another crossroad so either way, we end up at the same place. You pick one."

"Uh, Okay, how 'bout to the left. It seems to be more out in the open so no problems right?"

"Okay, then." The two walked through the path that Naruto had picked, but they had ended up near a small hut in the middle of nowhere. The path they had walked through had three different road splits and Naruto had made the decision to take the left side each time. They had gotten lost once they reached a forested area. Sumaru wanted to track around, but Naruto wanted to go through it to cut time, but even with careful planning on Sumaru's part they were lead way off their intended path. That was how they found themselves in front of a hut in the middle of nowhere.

Sumaru dragged Naruto to ask for directions and the easiest way back to Konohagakure. Naruto happily knocked on the door only to meet face to face with a big, almost bulky guy dressed only in a loose black pants held up by suspenders, but what got the two's attention was the humungous sword strapped to his back. Naruto could almost compare Kakashi to the guy seeing that they both had masks covering the lower portion of their face. But he could almost see a scowl outline the mask he was wearing.

"What do you want?" A gruff voice spoke in great annoyance. Naruto seemed paralyzed so Sumaru took over.

"We just wanted to know if there was a path we could take from here to get to Konohagakure." Sumaru used a sickly sweet voice that even Naruto cringed.

"What the-" The man was about to throw out the punks in front of him when he noticed his companion coming back from gathering the herbs he desired.

"Zabuza be nice! They only need directions." The man, aptly named Zabuza, only held the door open as his companion ushered the other two in so they wouldn't just crowd in front of the small house. Sumaru sized up the smaller figure dressed in a simple summer dress that ended a little below the knees, with a black strap choker. It would seem that he liked what he saw as a light pink dusting crossed his normally fair skin. Naruto elbowed Sumaru to focus seeing that someone in the room didn't like the way Naruto's companion stared at his partner.

"Sorry for his behavior, he's been a bit moody lately." The other guy, oblivious to the staring, implied as he saw a frown etched across the older guy's normally masked face.

"Haku, why'd you have to invite them in, you shoulda just give them directions and throw them out." Zabuza's voice came out bored without a change in the tone. Haku, gave the other a simple glare to reprimand and, just as swiftly, turned his attention to the two.

"Would you like to get something to eat before you go?" This time, Sumaru seemed more than incapable of speaking so Naruto took to answering the rather effeminate long-haired male in front of them.

"We're alright nii-chan, we're kind of in a hurry so I think we better get out of your way too," said Naruto while implying that Zabuza seemed less than enthused to having visitors. Haku got the implications and merely wrapped a couple of freshly-baked bread for the duo before seeing them out. He couldn't help but be amused that the braided haired male was a tad bit clumsy. The poor guy tripped twice on his own foot on the short walk from where he stood just moments ago to the door.

Seeing the amusement in the eyes of his ward, Zabuza took it upon himself to let the other guy know who Haku belongs to. Zabuza took a couple of strides towards the crowd in front of his door and once he reached them, he pulled Haku back against his exposed chest and wrapped his arms across the surprised male.

"He's mine so stop with the starry-eyed thing, it's annoying!" barked the older man. Sumaru merely glared at the older male before turning around and walking out while murmuring something about love rivals, jerks, and love at first sight, in turn, completely missing the part where Haku reprimanded the other with the threat of castration. Naruto smiled impassively and wondered for a moment if Itachi would be protective of him like that if he could ever get the older Uchiha to fall for him as much as he has fallen for the older Uchiha in such an unbelievably short moment. For a second, he thought that his attraction seemed a bit unnatural, but he let it slide from his musings as thoughts of kissing the man seemed to be more appealing.

"Sorry for his unusual behavior, he's not normally like this but thanks for the bread. We'll be going now." Not a moment too soon, Sumaru and Naruto were assaulted by a rain of kunais and shurikens. The two dodged to the side but was unable to dodge all of it. A couple was able to embed themselves onto Naruto's left arm and Sumaru's right leg. Naruto, surprised by the attack caused a misstep and hit his head falling down rendering him unconscious. Sumaru, more alert, tried searching for the enemy but the pain in his leg was distracting him. Zabuza and Haku intervened and tried to sense the enemy's chakra for their whereabouts but it would seem that whoever attacked had already fled. Zabuza hefted up the unconscious blonde while Haku helped the other back on his better leg and help him in.

* * *

Four figures quickly bowed down in front of the snake sannin.

"We found the new vessel Lord Orochimaru." The long, red haired female informed their master of the whereabouts of the newly found blonde. "We were able to wound him and his comrade so they would have to recuperate in that area. I also laced the kunais with a paralyzing effect which could also help us in our capture of your new vessel, even just by trying to delay them for a couple of hours."

"How far away are they from here?" The mirth and amusement from the voice of the snake sannin was undeniable.

"Not by much, we estimate it at around 10 miles northeast from here an hour at most," supplied by another figure with six arms.

"Kidomaru, please inform Kabuto that we are to head out immediately; Tayuya you will accompany us while Jirobo, Ukon, and Sakon prepare another room for our guest, we want him to be comfortable if he is to be my successor after all. You are dismissed," three of the four figures quickly dispersed and disappeared in the shadows. "Let's get going now, Tayuya. We need to welcome our new guest personally." Orochimaru, along with Tayuya, met up with Kidomaru and Kabuto at the entrance of their lair and all four headed towards their conquest.

* * *

Zabuza had hefted the unconscious blonde towards his and Haku's shared bedroom while the other was laid down next to the blonde. Something in Sumaru's movements seemed off and his joints were stiffening as he was helped onto the bed. Zabuza and Haku carefully took out the shurikens and kunais sticking out of both boys.

"Why can't I move?" asked Sumaru towards the beautifully effeminate raven completely ignoring the obvious amusement of the older man in his predicament.

"The weapons used to attack you must have been laced with something to paralyze its victims." Haku deducted quickly being the one knowledgeable in the ways of using herbs. He told Zabuza to watch over the two while he prepares an antidote for the paralyzing effect. He had the herbs needed but it would still take time before the two are fully able to move completely.

In a matter of minutes, Haku had created the antidote needed and had administered it to one of the two; Sumaru had taken it himself but the blonde needed a little help in swallowing the antidote so Haku opted to give it orally but Zabuza protested harshly. Sumaru merely told the two to wait since the blonde would hate for any one of them to administer something orally if they're in no immediate danger.

The waiting had been the worst part. Sumaru opted to sleeping until the paralysis wears off and Zabuza had gone out to hunt for some meat to eat along with fish from the river nearby. Haku stayed back to watch over the two and made tea in case they wake up.

An hour passed by and Sumaru had already recovered from the paralyzing effects. He tried to play the pity card for Haku to pay more attention to him but Zabuza became hostile when he noticed and threatened to cut off a certain part of the guy. Sumaru blanched when he looked into the older man's face which only promised him of pain if he kept it up. Sumaru receded and just waited for his companion to wake up, all the while brooding.

Not a moment too soon, Naruto stirred from his slumber. Eyes blinked hard upon waking. The first thing he noticed was a feeling of being strapped down onto the mildly comfortable bed he currently laid down on despite the absence of any straps. His mind fell onto sudden panic before he realized that Sumaru, Haku, and Zabuza had come into view. He also noticed that he couldn't quite open his mouth wide enough to let any audible sounds come out. Haku, holding the medicine that's currently made into a syrupy liquid, hovered it over the blonde's mouth insinuating for the other to drink it.

"Drink this up and you'll feel better," Haku managed to let the syrup run down the blonde's throat after pouring it on barely opened lips. Naruto managed to swallow a bit even if a little painful, he sent a silent thanks to the other boy as a wave of drowsiness wracked over him. He let his muscles relax until sleep overcame him once more.

"Is he alright?" asked Sumaru towards the two other occupants of the room.

"He's still feeling the kunai's paralyzing effects so he'll be fine once he wakes up again," Haku answered all the while making the blonde as comfortable as he could. In the midst of all this, the three ninjas felt four ominous chakras surging forwards towards them. In preparation, Sumaru gathered his weapons and the other two did the same as well. Zabuza donned his gigantic sword while his subordinate took hold of his needles.

In a matter of minutes their guests have arrived without any intention of masking their chakras. All three of them quickly strode outside to investigate whether or not the four are there to fight of or otherwise.

"What do you want?" asked Zabuza in a rather annoyed tone, he noticed Orochimaru first, a known sannin, then looked to the other three and noticed the hitai-ate symbols of the sound village.

"We're here for the blonde that's to be my new vessel," hissed Orochimaru in a slightly seductive yet dangerous tone that bordered in amusement.

"We don't know who you're talking about," answered Sumaru tersely. He felt a sudden surge of wanting to protect the blonde. He figured that it might have been because he now felt like a friend to the blonde. He failed to notice the glowing purple sign of the star on the back of his hand, but Orochimaru caught sight of it and knew that he had been right in assuming that the vessel he seeks was in the company of these so called ninjas.

"I really don't care for any more bloodshed than necessary but if you don't relinquish what I want then so be it." Orochimaru merely stayed back as his subordinates fell in to fighting stance. No more warning or exchanges were made as Sumaru instigated the battle. He called forth for his Kujaku technique forming 5 beasts, which he has been unable to do previously, and sent them to attack the girl holding onto a flute.

Haku followed suit as he sent needles to attack the grey-haired male wearing glasses. The needles were easily deflected using a chakra scalpel. The other male retaliated and sent forth his own needles towards the long raven haired male. The surrounding air became a bit heavy and Haku used his own chakra to form ice walls in front of him. He managed to merge with one before the needles struck. The ice shattered leaving only watery traces behind.

Meanwhile, Orochimaru had stood back and let Kidomaru, the six-armed man, to handle the sword wielding man in front of them. Zabuza called for his hidden mist jutsu to mask his whereabouts as he sent the sword twirling like a boomerang. Kidomaru managed to avoid it in the nick of time and quickly created something like a sword by integrating his own chakra onto a web-like thread much like how spiders make them. He fashioned his sword to be made as hard as steel and quickly made for the offensive.

Swords clashed as Zabuza once again took hold of his sword and swung it down onto the incoming male. Swords mashed producing metallic sounds that reverberated in the surrounding area. The battle seemed to come close to a draw but the other arms of Kidomaru had also stayed active and gave out punches here and there that Zabuza barely managed to avoid. And still, the battle kept on with a smiling snake waiting for his chance to take his vessel into his clutches for his own twisted use.

* * *

Naruto stirred from his sleep as soon as his body felt that something was going on outside. He was able to get up from the bed as soon as he heard clashing metallic sounds. He looked out of the window and noticed that the place was covered in a deep mist. The mist itself seemed unnatural so he deducted that danger must be looming outside. He quickly gathered his gear in hopes of helping out his guardian and new found acquaintances. Before he even got out the door, he finally took notice of the fact that he felt better than he did before he got hit with the kunai. So he redoubled his movements and scampered out.

He was met with a rather sense of deja vú upon opening the door. He saw Haku battling it out with the guy he had met from before with Orochimaru. He quickly scanned the area in search of the snake sannin. He knew that if his people were in the area then so must he. From what he could tell the grey-haired male seemed to be the right hand of the snake himself which would mean that Orochimaru is looking for something important to have given a personal visit.

Sumaru and Tayuya had fallen into somewhat of a stalemate. Sumaru counterattacked all of Tayuya's dokis with his own chakra beasts. Even the genjutsu that the red-head used didn't produce the effects that she wanted. Along with their battle, Zabuza had started using his water clones to battle Kidomaru as he summoned up his water dragons. The six-armed boy summoned up his own spiders to battle it out. What he didn't notice was that more and more water were filling the area.

"Now, Haku!" Zabuza screamed to help the boy.

Haku merely nodded in understanding as he held the grey-haired man's hands in stalemate. He freed his other hand to quickly make one-handed signs and called out loud for his 'thousand needles of death.' The surrounding water turned quickly into ice needles and surged forwards towards the grey-haired man. Haku jumped back in safety as he noticed that the man had also escaped unscathed, but he had another thing on his mind and quickly did a few hand signs and called out 'ice style: body-piercing dome!' Water surged up from the ground and enveloped Kabuto before hardening to ice. From the inside the ice formed spikes and pierced the body. Haku, for a moment thought that he had gotten the other man, but soon found out that he hadn't as needles were quickly sent his way. The grey haired male was able to use his substitution jutsu to get out of the tight spot and sent poison needles towards the other boy. He dodged quickly but Kabuto was prepared and came from the right and tried to attack him with a chakra scalpel.

* * *

Zabuza had been intently watching the battle while he battled the boy in form of him as well. As soon as he saw that Haku left one side unguarded, he changed pace and intervened from the oncoming attack. The attack that was meant for the raven had gotten to him instead; he felt his body collapse as his ward and lover came to his aid.

Naruto, seeing what happened sprinted over to Haku's side. He felt sympathy for the raven, something about the way the raven tried to hold Zabuza almost broke his heart. As soon as he got to Zabuza's side he quickly summoned up green chakra to start repairing the torn ligaments. Haku looked at the blonde in sorrow, but Naruto merely smiled his way before murmuring something that sounded like the older man would be fine.

In all the commotion, Naruto failed to sense the oncoming needle that pierced his right leg and left shoulder. The blonde toppled over and the chakra from his hands dissipated. Haku laid down Zabuza gently before hurrying up to help the blonde. He used another one handed signs to summon an ice dome to cover and protect Zabuza's unconscious body. Once he got to the blonde, he reached for the needle but a sudden white light engulfed him as well as the blonde. The light went as quickly as it came but he noticed that he had a symbol of water on the back of his right hand glowing light blue.

"What's this?" asked Haku.

"You're a guardian now, but there's no time for questions, help me up," muttered the blonde.

"You're still weak," came a reply from the raven holding him up but Naruto merely ignored him for the time being. He had a certain goal in mind and this might be the only way to get them out of certain doom.

"Orochimaru, you bastard come out here and face me!" screamed Naruto to try and get the sannin's attention.

"You called for me, my sweet?" asked Orochimaru in a sickly sweet voice.

"What do you want? Why are you doing this?" Naruto's voice sounded meek, almost like he lost all the fight his soul once had.

"I want your body, I want you to be my new vessel, give them to me and I will spare their lives." Naruto mulled it over looking for pros and cons but in knowing that he wouldn't be quickly killed, he decided to go with the snake in hopes of saving his friends' lives.

"I'll go with you, just please don't hurt them anymore." Just as quickly as Naruto said that, all fighting stopped once Orochimaru called for subordinates to stand down.

"Don't go!" Sumaru called out as he ran towards the blonde.

"Sorry," answered the blonde as he limped towards the snake and looked back to say something once more, "go to our destination and let Itachi and Godaime Tsunade know." Naruto only muttered loud enough for the guardian to hear. He smiled once more towards his newly found guardian before the pain overtook him and he crumpled to the ground once more. The two guardians made a move to try and help the blonde but they were outdone by the snake that quickly came and carried off the blonde bridal style.

"You're lucky for now, I'm keeping my promise in not killing you, but go after us and be faced with certain death," Orochimaru was able to give warning before leaving the two other guardians speechless. The other three followed as well leaving only clouds of dust in their wake as the mist had dispelled long since the older mist-nin fell unconscious.

"What do we do now? Will he be okay?" asked the raven haired man as he scooped up Zabuza and hefted him onto his back.

"That man won't kill him from the looks of it but we leave for Konoha as soon as possible, the other guardians are there from what I've heard from Naruto, and with them we stand a better chance of finding him."

"What did he mean when he said I'm a guardian now?" asked Haku while looking over the symbol of water etched on the back of his hand even as the glow had disappeared.

"The symbol of water that you have means that you are one of the few chosen to protect him as he journeys to complete his mission; your original powers are augmented making them stronger, that's what he told me at least, but even as he said that, it feels like he's the one doing all the protecting." A silent tear slid down Sumaru's eyes as his emotions ran wild in the loss of his charge. In truth, he felt more like the blonde's friend despite the short time that they have spent previously. The other boy only took in his new part of this unwarranted discovery before signaling for him and Sumaru to head for Konoha in hopes of getting Zabuza healed as well. Something inside told him that he needed to protect the blonde, but he couldn't find it in himself to ask why so he shrugged it off for the moment.

"Let's get going, I know the quickest route, we can make it there before nightfall."

"Right, let's go," uttered Sumaru as he followed the raven haired boy leaping from tree to tree, all the while, using chakra to boost their speed.

_**"Hold on Naruto, we'll come for you, just you wait."**_ The two quickly pushed on as they neared the village.

TO BE CONTINUED!!!

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A/N: Thanks for reading!


	8. Ch 7: Matter of Sound

**Disclaimer:** I don't own this obviously, Masashi Kishimoto owns the Naruto series and I have no affiliation with the Naruto series or whatsoever plus I don't make any money from this story.

* * *

To Transcend My Wings

: : Chapter 7: : Matter of Sound

* * *

Three figures approached the gates of the village they seek. One was unconscious while the other two looked worse for wear. The guards in front of the gates approached with caution as the two active ones suddenly fell on their knees as they neared the gate.

"Name your purpose?" asked one of the guards as he held a kunai in defense just in case, yet his eyes held no contempt as the two tried to struggle back up on their feet, but he knew that even if the strangers tried to fight in their condition, they are nowhere near to taking on any ninja in their condition, let alone two fully aware chuunins, even a genin team could take them on. It would seem like chakra exhaustion has taken its toll from the looks of it.

"We need to see… someone… called Itachi or someone called Tsunade," muttered the braided long-haired star ninja while panting the whole time letting much desired air flow through him to try and dispel the weariness he is feeling. His chest hurt as he uttered every syllable, but he needed to talk to those people that the blonde had mentioned in hopes to saving said blonde. The two ninjas in charge of the gate's patrol looked wearily towards each other before one of them had answered.

"This Itachi person you seek is currently unavailable, and the godaime is currently in a meeting." The wondered how to get the proper help if the people they sought out for are currently unavailable.

"It doesn't matter, a friend of ours have been taken by this man named Orochimaru and before he had left he told us to go here," uttered the other long haired raven; although exhausted, he was still composed enough to speak in complete sentences without panting between every word or so.

The two guards looked at each other before one of them used a transportation jutsu to transport all of them in the hospital. The three were admitted in the same room for the time being with chakra dampeners for precautions before they were left alone as the guard went to alert the godaime of their presence.

"I don't think they trust us at all." Sumaru didn't mean for it to sound like an accusation, he knew that all villages would be wary of other ninjas especially since two of them had been missing-nins, but he couldn't help but feel like a missing nin as well with the chakra dampeners placed on him. He looked over to the two other people in the room to check up on their predicament.

Haku is currently sitting on the bed beside the older mist nin. He looked worn out as well, but he couldn't stop worrying about the older man who still lay sleeping. Naruto had tried to heal the man as best he could but he couldn't shake off the feeling that something else was eating away at the older man as he lay, still unmoving. Sumaru took a seat on the opposite side of the younger man looking closer towards Zabuza's peaceful looking face. The braided long-haired black haired young man looked on impassively towards the two but he knew that he had developed some sort of camaraderie and respect for the older man seeing that he selflessly got in the way of an almost fatal attack that could have taken the life of the younger mist-nin. The three fell into a comforting silent stance that surrounded them in solitude as they waited for the arrival of the hokage.

* * *

A sleeping figure stirred lightly from his slumber. The only other occupant of the room looked on intently as the lithe figure in the four post bed bolted right up and scanned the surroundings.

"My, my, you seem awfully jumpy," the amusement laced in Orochimaru's voice seem viral to some extent.

"Where am I?" Naruto's voice calmed down after realizing that he was in no immediate danger, after all, he was the one who made the deal of going with the snake sannin in exchange for the safety of his friends.

"In my lair, ofcourse… but it would seem that we haven't been introduced properly."

"I know exactly who you are, Orochimaru, originally from Konohagakure but defected though I don't personally know the reason."

"Hmm? It seems that I am gaining in popularity. I guess trying to destroy the leaf village would earn me at least that much recognition, but you haven't told me your name yet." Orochimaru's voice seemed so soothing to Naruto, but he knew that the man was dangerous as well. A part of him wanted to stay with the man's alluring presence while a part of him also wanted to run screaming for help. Inner conflicts seemed to clash but the man's gaze was simply intimidating with snake like yellow eyes that produce slits for pupils which seemed to sneer at those who looked deep into it. Begrudgingly, Naruto gave in, though a part of him still wanted to refuse telling his name at all.

"Naruto," the blonde simply said forgoing his last name in case it sparks any interest just like the first time he had told Sasuke of his surname.

"Alright, Naruto… I would like you to think of me as your master from now on," the blonde scanned the snake's pale face as it became apparent to him that his captor plans for him to be his servant or some sort, but Orochimaru began again, "Don't be so worried Naruto-kun you will not be serving as my servant but you will be under my command as long as you're with me."

"I don't take orders from anyone!" shouted Naruto. Naruto got up the bed and tried to tackle the man but collapsed back again mid-step.

"I'm not as foolish as you might think Naruto-kun, I had certain precautions done on you ofcourse. You won't be able to summon any chakra with that anklet on you so why don't you just be a good boy and relax... besides your body is still getting used to being this weak after all that's happened."

"Humph!" Naruto turned his head away to show defiance to the older man. That's all he is able to do anyway, these people he now faced could take him out in an instant even without the anklet on. He had a feeling that without his guardians near him it is impossible to summon up any chakra at all, just like that one time when Sumaru had been taken even before he became his guardian.

"Are you hungry my little Naru-chan?" asked the deviously cunning snake.

"No," Naruto's response, although muttered underneath his breath, was voided as soon as his stomach decided to make itself known. Orochimaru merely grinned in understanding before telling the blonde to follow him to the kitchen for food.

"You're not going to keep me in this place like a prisoner?" Although Naruto was still a little ticked off about his capture and this man's evil presence, his question sounded more like a plea for freedom.

"Ofcourse not, I take pride in knowing that you won't try to escape." Naruto couldn't tell whether the man was serious or not in his assumptions but he did know that a part of him did not want to leave this comforting sense of destruction. And it seems that the more he's around the snake the more his resolve to save his world, wavered.

* * *

In another place, the current Hokage has been informed of the predicament the blonde had gotten himself in. She had gotten to the trio as soon as she could, but she surveyed that the man on the bed is poisoned somehow. Without a word spoken between any of them, the Hokage healed the older rogue mist-nin while the other two began to tell the story as prompted by the Godaime. At first, she seemed reluctant to believe, but as soon as the two showed her their guardian characters, she listened intently on.

"Naruto's in the possession of Orochimaru?" although her tone seemed questioning, her mind was far from that. She was recalling a previous conversation she had with Itachi.

_**"I know he's alive!" Right now, the Hokage seemed amazed at seeing the level of intensity that the young man in front of her gave off. It seemed unusual for any Uchiha to show this much emotion all at once, it was even talked about that none of the Uchiha men could learn to unmask their feelings, but here is this young man who seems almost desperate to grasp something unreachable.**_

_**"How? We all saw him disappear after he had transferred the heaven seal to his body."**_

_**"I can't explain it, but I can feel him. His sadness, joy, relief, everything..." Itachi's voice quaked as he tried to explain how his instincts were telling him that the blonde boy is still alive somewhere. For some inexplicable reason, he had fallen in love for the blonde, call it love at first sight, or something else, but that was his only explanation. His wanting to see the blonde went farther than simply being his guardian. It was as if a part of himself had been torn away soon as the blonde disappeared from his grasp.**_

_**"I can't just let you go on a wild goose chase, Itachi-san," Tsunade, being the Hokage of the village knew just how valuable the Uchiha is, but letting him go around in a wild goose chase would simply be of some terrible use of their ninjas and resources.**_

_**"If you don't send me out, I'll defect." Itachi sounded serious enough for Sasuke to intervene in behalf of the shocked Hokage.**_

_**"Aniki, you can't be serious, you barely even know him, besides, dad would be totally against this!" Sasuke's protests were silenced as soon as Itachi sent one of his coldest glares his way. Contemplating the consequences of her next actions, Tsunade weighed the pros of letting Itachi go or losing one of the strongest Uchiha bloodline to ever graze the village. Tsunade sighed in resignment before finally caving.**_

_**"I'll allow it, but only if your brother goes with you. I want you two to report any findings, but come back as soon as you find something, don't rush in blindly."**_

_**"Understood."**_

"Hokage-sama?" Tsunade snapped back to reality soon as they mentioned her name seeing that her attention was somewhat divided as of the moment.

"I see, we have to inform Itachi-san of this before we make a move, we would also need to gather the found guardians. Something tells me that Orochimaru wouldn't be willing to hand over the boy easily."

TO BE CONTINUED!!!

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A/N: Thank you for reading.


	9. Ch 8: Wanting To Be Found

**Disclaimer:** I don't own this obviously, Masashi Kishimoto owns the Naruto series and I have no affiliation with the Naruto series or whatsoever plus I don't make any money from this story.

A/N: Thank you so much to all my readers and reviewers!!! I really love seeing the reviews!

***IMPORTANT* By the way, there will be a brief moment where things become a little _heated_ (or not) so if you'd rather not get into it then skip it please! It starts from the second line break until the third, and a part of the italicized paragraph towards the end of the chapter is kind of... controversial?... so beware of that...  
**

* * *

To Transcend My Wings

: : Chapter 8: : Wanting To Be Found

* * *

It had been a couple of days since the trio had first arrived at the village and they are yet to be able to speak to this Itachi person they're looking for, but as luck would have it, Itachi came bounding back to Konoha carried by his brother who only looked too miffed about the fact that Itachi seems to be getting more and more out of control. The news drifted to the trio that Itachi had come back, and the Hokage told them that it would be best for them to tell the news directly while Itachi is still mildly out of it since they couldn't afford a raging Itachi on their tails if the guy found out about it later. So it was placed upon Sumaru to tell the predicament that the blond had gotten himself in. Upon arrival at the hospital room that the elder Uchiha resided, Sumaru felt somewhat safe seeing the Uchiha with his younger brother. As soon as he stepped a few feet closer though, he saw what must be the coldest glare ever directed at him.

"State your business, make sure it's important." Although Itachi didn't say 'or else' Sumaru knew that it was there somewhere.

"It's just that- Naruto told me to talk to you ab-" With lightning speed, Itachi was off the bed in his condition, the sharingan spinning wildly, and Sumaru was cut off as soon as he felt tightening fingers on his neck. Sasuke was immediately alarmed seeing his brother quickly get up and attack the newcomer for just mentioning the blonde bombshell's name but dared not go against his brother right now.

"Spill." That was all Itachi said before he loosened his grip enough for the other to be able to speak without any obstruction while still dangling a couple of inches off the floor with Itachi measuring his every facial gesture to see if the young man speaks the truth.

"He's with Orochimaru. He exchanged himself to save us." Sumaru struggled not to panic as he relayed how it all came about. Sasuke merely stayed back but alerted himself just in case his brother did something drastic and he would have to step in.

"Where is he now?" asked Itachi while seething. Even he, himself, knew that his infatuation with the blonde seemed to border insanity and obsession but as of right now, he couldn't care less. The only things running through his head are the overwhelming thoughts of murdering a snake and punishing a blonde for making him feel this way, almost possessed.

"We don't know where exactly but we figured he'd be within Orochimaru's lair, wherever that may be."

"Fuck, I need to get out of here." Itachi had completely released the other letting him fall back to his feet and tried to stalk out of the room before his chakra exhaustion made its presence still known. He fell down to his knees but Sasuke was there to catch his brother once more.

"You need to rest, and then we'll go and find him, okay Aniki," Sasuke didn't need any words to convey what the older Uchiha is thinking of as of the moment. Sasuke shuddered under the intense glare that his brother presented him but let it wash over him as he helped the older Uchiha back into bed for a much needed rest. Itachi had completely calmed down soon after while the two motioned for the other to join them in the hall to talk further, but stopped soon as a few words escaped the sleeping Uchiha.

"I need him," Sumaru and Sasuke shared a look before heading out the door towards the hallway.

"Something's a little off, my brother seems to be losing his head more and more each day that they're apart." Sumaru looked at the raven haired boy intently before giving a quick nod of understanding.

"Are they lovers? He seems to feel that much for Naruto-san."

"No, not even… Naruto was here for only a little while and only spoke to aniki for a couple of hours but… I don't even know how to explain…"

"Maybe Naruto can explain… If only he's here…" Sumaru let out a heavy sigh until an idea had popped up in his head. Sumaru's frown turned upside down and seemed to turn into a grin from ear to ear.

"What's wrong?" asked Sasuke but all the while, he wanted to yell at the young man for putting on such a creepy face.

"I think I know of a way to find Naruto."

* * *

Underground somewhere in the land of the waves, a young blond man laid in the bed provided for him muttering something about his lazy guardians that haven't broken him out of his 'jail' yet. The blond, thinking of all the guardians he found felt his chest constrict at the thought of one raven haired Uchiha.

_"I miss Itachi for some reason…"_ thought Naruto to himself before his door was opened letting in one of the snake sannin's attendants.

"Lord Orochimaru requests your presence at his chambers immediately." Naruto wanted to scream for the man to simply leave him alone, but he knew he couldn't (wouldn't) do anything to retaliate since it would all be futile. He felt weak and defenseless. He couldn't summon up any chakra at all, so what's his hope to fend off the older man- none.

"Tell him I'll be there," was all Naruto had to say for the attendant to leave. Naruto got up from his bed and headed towards Orochimaru's chambers which was, coincidentally, just across the hall from his own room. Naruto felt fluttering butterflies in his stomach as he neared the door to Orochimaru's room. Naruto got closer and closer with every step but all he could hear as he neared were the sounds of muffled moans and soft grunting.

"What the-" Naruto abruptly opened the door just in time to see Orochimaru climax and tense as his length buried deep inside the silver-haired man underneath him, also writhing in his own climax. Naruto felt somewhat like a fish out of water gaping between the two. Kabuto was the first to recover letting Orochimaru's body roll off of him taking the softening length out along with him. Without merely batting an eye, Kabuto rolled off the bed, the sannin's previous emissions running down from his hole, and walked past Naruto to leave the two for their private conversation which Kabuto had been previously filled on about.

"Naru-chan, it would seem that you came at just about the right time," said the snake sannin as he sat up from his position only to let the tiniest amount of blanket to fall from his pale body revealing all for the blonde to see.

"Wha-" Naruto couldn't even respond as he felt himself stiffen from head to toe the moment Orochimaru decided to get up from the bed and walk towards the blonde. The snake sannin circled Naruto before wrapping his arms around the smaller blonde's waist, letting his exposed chest press on the clothed back of the stunned younger man.

"Naru-chan," whispered Orochimaru hotly towards the blonde's ears causing the blonde to shiver, not from excitement but from the mere simulation while also letting his hardening length poke the blonde's back lightly before continuing, "I want you."

* * *

It only took a couple of minutes before a team was assembled, but they were only composed of the guardians, all five of them. The team consisted of Itachi, Sasuke, Kakashi, Haku, and Sumaru. Haku and Sumaru, although not a Konoha-nin, were considered a part of the team since they are technically Naruto's guardians and that is irrefutable even in the eyes of the elder council and the ROOT section of the ANBU division. Itachi reluctantly declined the position of team leader and let Kakashi take over since he could barely think straight with the blonde constantly on his head like a broken record playing over and over again.

Zabuza had also been left behind and detained due to the fact that he was still considered an S-class missing nin and his reputation tended to get him in trouble, but the Hokage had issued that the missing-nin of the hidden mist village would be put under house arrest for a couple of months or so just to see if he could behave then he could choose to either be a ninja for the leaf village or be a civilian with or without ties to the village. In the beginning, Zabuza had thrown a fit about not being around his partner, but Haku had reassured him, though reluctantly, that he would be safe in the hands of some of the most gifted ninjas in the land of fire.

The group set out once more and as soon as they reached a clearing, unseen beyond the gates of the village, they set up camp. Sasuke and Sumaru came up with the plan for a bond reversal. Sumaru had once been told by Naruto during their travel that he could always feel the connection he makes to each of his guardians like a string pulling on him. Sumaru hadn't commented on that due to the fact that he couldn't feel the connection that the blonde was talking about, but during the talk that Sasuke and Sumaru had in the hospital they both felt like they could use this information to find the blonde.

"So how is this supposed to work?" asked Haku towards Sumaru only sparing a glance towards Sasuke before fully integrating his attention to the longer-haired nin.

"Well, we're not sure how to exactly call him, but we did an experiment back in the hospital and both Sasuke and I felt him," gave Sumaru as a reply to the feminine boy.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=FLASHBACK=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

"Do you think this will work?" asked Sasuke as he sat down with his legs folded across the other nin just a couple of inches away.

"I'm not sure but if he's right, then I would be able to sense him… Okay now hold out your hand," answered Sumaru. Sasuke thrust both of his hands slowly and let them rest on the open hand of the star-nin.

"Okay, now try and concentrate your chakra on your symbol and try to see if you'd be able to feel a tug or something like a physical manifestation of the blond, something you know would be him while I do the same," said Sumaru. Sasuke didn't need further instructions as he activated his bloodline that Naruto had given him access to and let a stream of concentrated chakra flow to the now slightly glowing symbol on his hand. Sumaru was also doing the same thing until they felt a spark that seemed as hot as a raging inferno but it doesn't seem to be any more than an alluring light leading them into the very core of its existence.

"Is that it?" asked Sasuke.

"I'm not sure, but I think there's something a little more to it. Try upping the stream a little."

"Alright." Once more the two concentrated their chakras and all of a sudden they could see the blonde, not completely but almost like a silhouette that he embodies, its frame seemed fragile, like its shape could disperse at any moment without leaving any trace. The two concentrated hard enough that they could somehow sense in an unmentionable way as to which direction the presence is coming from but the bond isn't strong enough so they figured that maybe if they had the other guardians' help then they would succeed.

"We've almost got it. We need to tell aniki."

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=END FLASHBACK=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

"Okay, let's give it a try," mentioned Haku, as he noticed the anticipation that Itachi exuded. The group sat in a circle one hand connected to the people next to them. Suddenly, their symbols began to glow enveloping the group in a blanket of what seemed like a rainbow colored light, each of them letting their chakra flow like an open stream onto the only thing they have of the blonde, their symbols and their memories of him. Soon enough, they have gone from the flames into the core where the shadow emerged guiding their consciousness towards the blonde. Then all of a sudden, they were seeing the world from the blonde's eyes.

_"Please stop this," whispered the blonde, his conviction barely there._

_"No, I don't think I will… after all, you did give yourself up to me so it's only fair that I see what I'm investing on." Orochimaru let his hands glide up and down the waist feeling the blonde's exposed skin. Orochimaru nipped a bit towards the junction of the blonde's neck. The snake sannin did not try to leave any marks on the blonde's skin. He couldn't comprehend as to why he didn't want to mar the tanned skin, but deep down he knew that he loved the feel of the blonde against him._

_"Please, please stop," begged Naruto as his tears started to flow down the deep blue eyes, but Orochimaru would do no such thing and quickly threw the blonde on the bed, facedown. Orochimaru climbed on top of the blonde once more and let his straining erection graze the mounds of the blonde's well-formed ass._

_"I want to be inside you Naru-chan," even with the snake's sincere voice, Naruto uncontrollably shook in fear then without warning, the blonde screamed at the top of his lungs before losing consciousness and the guardians were thrust out of the blonde's head with only Itachi catching the last words Naruto let loose, "Save me……. Itachi."_

Almost as if waking up from a bad dream, the group of five quickly gathered their belongings and headed out towards the direction in which they had sensed the blonde. Everyone, especially Itachi, became worried after they saw the vision. If that is what's currently going on, then they would really need to hurry their pace and rescue the blonde from the snake's clutches in hopes of mending what the snake could have broken.

Itachi hastened his pace with chakra to make it to the hideout faster. He could feel his anger almost welling up and surging out of him if it hadn't been for the blonde's plea for 'his' help. The blonde had called out his name in the vision therefore would have to mean that he was the one on the blonde's head. Although, he couldn't quite find complete solace in that fact due to the presence of the snake man being so close to his sunshine. Hopefully, they wouldn't be too late to salvage what may be left of the blonde before Orochimaru could break him.

TO BE CONTINUED!!!

* * *

A/N: Thanks for reading!


	10. Ch 9: Getting There

**Disclaimer:** I don't own this obviously, Masashi Kishimoto owns the Naruto series and I have no affiliation with the Naruto series or whatsoever plus I don't make any money from this story.

A/N: Thank you for reading!

* * *

To Transcend My Wings

: : Chapter 9: : Getting There

* * *

"Where am I?" asked Naruto more to himself rather than to anyone in particular. A moment of silence met Naruto before the haziness melted away. He was met with nothing but darkness as the room still remained shrouded in the shadows. The blonde figure on the bed sat up a little as his head throbbed as if telling him that he might be getting a migraine. The blonde, obviously distracted, failed to notice that he was left bereft of his clothing and now currently lay still on the four post bed underneath a heavy blanket to provide warmth.

"Naruto-san," uttered a previously silent figure in the darkest corner of the room where no light penetrated. Naruto was shell-shocked at not sensing another presence in the room, but then again these people he currently resides with happen to be ninjas.

"Yes?" asked Naruto in curious questioning.

"Lord Orochimaru requests your presence as soon as possible." The statement was met in silence as previous situations suddenly flashed before him. He could remember how Orochimaru had touched him and it disgusted him. He felt like every part of himself that the snake man touches leaves an invisible mark burning him from within. However, after having felt Orochimaru's length trying to breach him, he lost consciousness and everything became hazy.

"Naruto-san?" Tears started falling from the blonde's before he, himself, even knew it. The blonde let himself find comfort in the warmth that the covers provided for him totally disregarding the other in the room as well.

"I'm tired," muttered Naruto as darkness once again claimed him, but this time, before falling into the deep abyss, Naruto felt a tiny prick… strong enough to break skin but not enough to really hurt. Then Naruto was thrust into the deepest corner of his minds as his body suddenly stopped all movements only leaving his major organs working to keep him alive.

* * *

"The scouts have come back stating that a group of five ninjas lead by Itachi-san are near the base, will we prepare to evacuate?" Kabuto had been wary of his lord's temper ever since he'd left the blonde with the sannin. He figured that something must have gone wrong since he could also feel that Orochimaru's chakra levels seemed to have decreased.

"Yes, I cannot go head to head with a member of Uchiha clan as of this moment, we move to our southern base for the moment." Orochimaru is now currently livid, his current body is supposed to last for 2 more years, but ever since that incident with the blonde, his soul had been becoming unstable in the body and he couldn't figure out how the blonde had managed to fend him off and undo a part of his immortality jutsu. As it stands, he would need a new body and fast.

"What of the blonde boy?"

"He is of no more consequence, but we better hurry, I fear my body will not hold for too long." Secretly, Orochimaru still wanted the blonde to be his new vessel, but the risk was too great, since not even his genius mind could comprehend how the blonde's own chakra worked. Plus with fact that he almost came undone when he tried to claim the blonde's body, he just could not risk dying at the moment.

"Hai, Orochimaru-sama, understood." In a matter of mere seconds, the whole base had been alerted of incoming ninjas.

* * *

Upon arrival, the team couldn't even plan the rest of their retrieval mission as Itachi quickly dashed off inside regardless of the danger and Sasuke could only follow in to look for the blonde as well. Sumaru had opted to looking for the blonde as well after the first two ran off so quickly. Kakashi and Haku had volunteered to guard the front and back entrance to the hideout to intercept any ninjas from getting in their way.

The lair itself was made in the covers of the underground. The only entrance and exits of the place were found on opposite sides hidden by something of a rock door. Inside, the place seemed to be more of a labyrinth stretching miles into the ground with more than a dozen of doors leading to different paths. And that is where the three nins find themselves.

The other three had gone inside the lair to scout out the premises while searching for the blonde. They had arrived merely a few moments ago following a grueling pace that Itachi set, but for some reason, their chakra reserves did not diminish yet they felt refreshed, just like the way they always feel whenever they were around the blonde – like they had limitless energy, but truth be told, their power comes from the blonde's own chakra pattern as well.

"Can you feel him?" asked Haku towards the radio that is currently attached to the collar of his garments.

"Hai," answered four other voices simultaneously. With that in mind, everyone set out what they had intended all along.

It didn't take long for enemy nins to start appearing in small groups. The sound ninjas that have been alerted were instructed to delay the present nins for their Otokage to escape to another one of their hideouts and hopefully, buy enough time to slow them down enough to realize that most of the sound-nins were no longer there. Haku and Kakashi, on opposite parts of the place, were forced to battle the incoming sound-nins to give the other three time to find the one they were searching for not noticing that the sound-nins were not striking within close distances. Shurikens and Kunais were thrown from different angles and Haku and Kakashi easily deflected them. In no time at all, the fighting stopped and the sound-nins retreated leaving Haku and Kakashi questioning as to what had just transpired.

* * *

Meanwhile, inside the labyrinth-like lair, Sasuke, Itachi and Sumaru split up in their search; the place was too big for them to search together.

It didn't take long for Itachi to find the blonde. He merely had to tap into the surging emotions he was feeling to focus on the 'tug' that it produced, like a compass always pointing north. He had ended up in the farthest room in the hideout. This room was secluded and is only found by opening a seal in one of the doors that instantaneously reveals a hidden passage that goes deeper down into the darkness like a maze.

In that current room, he saw the blonde completely lacking of any clothes with his normally tanned skin now looking quite pale. Itachi felt a surge of unknown emotions… what is it that he was feeling? Sorrow? Fear? Sadness? Joy? Relief?

He couldn't understand but the closer he got to the unmoving blonde, he suddenly knew that something was definitely off. It seemed like the body had fallen into sudden comatose or shock. He felt the blonde boy for a pulse and found a faint one. This gave him hope and quickly wrapped the blonde in the nearest set of blankets he could find before notifying the rest of the team to fall back to retreat back to Konoha. In the back of his head, he noticed that there were no one else in the place, like it was just previously evacuated.

He had gotten Naruto out a little too easily with no one to oppose him. Sasuke, along with Sumaru had also felt the lack of murderous intent in the place which would have meant that Orochimaru wasn't present, but what unsettled them was the fact that they had not noticed any of it beforehand. They pushed the thoughts out of their heads for a while since they've gotten who they came for.

"Kakashi, meet us at the northern exit, I've got him." The group noticed that Itachi's voice became somewhat blank and empty, like this was just another mission, but they didn't dwell on the thought as they hurried to their meeting point.

The group had met up at the northern entrance a short while later. They gathered round the blond and they decided to high-tail it back to the village in hopes of letting Tsunade figure out what exactly is wrong with the blond.

* * *

The group had arrived at Konoha in record speed and had quickly divulged information on accounts to what happened to the Hokage who quickly acted and put Naruto through surgery. She had stabilized his vital signs and had used all she knew in medicinal arts to try and dispel whatever type of poison the snake sannin had been able to inject the blonde. She would have to guess that this poison is newly developed since the corrosive part of the poison had been remedied but it contained some lingering psychosomatic after effects that she had not foreseen.

After a couple of hours in intensive care, Tsunade had called for the guardians to relay her findings. All seven of them including both blondes gathered in the room.

"I cannot do anything more for him at this point," said Tsunade in a calm yet knowing tone. She was met with strange looks and one of anger.

"What's wrong with him?" asked Sasuke.

"His body is in no danger but I'm afraid that, for now, survival would be up to him."

"What does that mean?" bit back Itachi.

"I mean, his body has fallen into some type of psychosomatic induced coma, I would think that his body would be able to function but his brainwaves are off."

"Is there anything we can do?" asked Kakashi this time around. They all pretty much felt useless; it is true that they have gotten the blonde out of the sannin's clutches but now they are presented with even more of an obstacle. Itachi looked on in passive silence before Tsunade spoke once more.

"At this point only sharingan users could penetrate the mind, but the greater danger would be if the sharingan user is to fail, then the mind would completely break down leaving the person as good as dead." Tsunade looked towards Sauke and Itachi knowing their bloodline abilities, but not knowing as to which brother should be sent if they agree.

If Sasuke is sent, then he might be calm enough to help the blond through, but then she would be faced with a livid Itachi. Then again, if she sends Itachi then he might let his emotions take over him and he might cause more problems.

In the midst of her thoughts, Itachi moved right next to the unmoving blonde set in the hospital bed. For some reason, this reminded him of the first time he saw the blonde, this made him feel nostalgic but also helpless. It might become a repeating pattern for the blonde to end up this way if he doesn't step up and properly protect the blonde. As his surging emotions went on and on in his head like a broken record, on the surface, his facial expression never changed from the normal stoic one he donned.

"Let me do this Hokage-sama… I wan- no, I need to save him," uttered Itachi in a low voice almost unrecognizable. Tsunade looked at Itachi summing up the other's convictions and found that he was entirely sincere and whole hearted in his wanting to help the blonde.

"Alright, all you'd need to do is use your sharingan and allow a part of your soul to delve into his, it will be just like using Tsukiyomi but instead, you will be the one to go into his world, then the rest will be up to you…" Tsunade paused in thought before continuing, "i can't tell you what you'll find in there, but just be careful."

"Understood." Itachi propped Naruto's body up for him to be in the sitting position and made a couple of hand motions and said, "Body mobilizing jutsu." Naruto's eyes fluttered open and Itachi let his sharingan activate and it began to spin wildly and he felt himself getting pulled from his body and into the blonde's. After a couple more seconds, Itachi's body fell lax and Sasuke caught him before crumpling to the floor.

Tsunade motioned for Kakashi to move the adjacent bed next to the one Naruto is on and told Sasuke to set the older Uchiha on the unoccupied bed. Now they can only wait and hope for the best.

TO BE CONTINUED!!!

* * *

A/N: I'm so crushing on Hyunbin!!! OMO!!! lolz... Thanks for stopping by!


	11. Ch 10: Two faced Brat

**Disclaimer:** I don't own this obviously, Masashi Kishimoto owns the Naruto series and I have no affiliation with the Naruto series or whatsoever plus I don't make any money from this story.

* * *

To Transcend My Wings

: : Chapter 10: : Two-faced Brat

* * *

Within moments from utilizing his sharingan, Itachi found himself in a place he could only describe as a classroom that resembled the ones he had back in the ninja academy. He was torn away from his musings as a blonde blur passed by him.

"Hey dog-breath!" called out the blonde blur in greeting.

"Hey Blondie!" returned the other.

Itachi looked over towards the two loud boys and realized that the one he came to look for was the one right in front of him. He very much wanted to reveal himself and his intentions to the blonde, but upon realizing that this world was a creation of the blonde's, he figured that it was there for a reason, more likely to protect him like a bubble. A bubble that keeps something in, while everything else out… so what exactly is it that is outside threatening to come in.

"Oh hey look, a new student!" pointed the blonde towards Itachi in the front row.

"Hey! Pointing like that is rude dude!" said Kiba towards the blonde, but it fell onto deaf ears as the blonde rushed on over to the new student.

"Hi! I'm Naruto Namikaze! What's your name?" asked the blonde excitedly as he stretched his hand out as if to shake the hand of the other guy.

"I'm Itachi Uchiha," said the other, stunned that the blonde did not know of who he was, but was more shocked that the blonde seemed different now compared to when he had first met the loud-mouthed blonde.

"Are you new here? 'Coz I don't we've met before."

"Yeah, I'm new, I just got here today actually." Itachi decided to play along and see where this takes him, and if his calculating deductions are right, then this was exactly like the world from where the blonde had come from.

"From where? Oh! If you want, you can sit with us up there, the teacher notices us less if we're in the very back, since if you can't tell yet, I'm kinda loud." The jest was obvious in the blonde's words, but it was amazing to see the blonde so relaxed. So Itachi did what any good ninja would do… blend in.

"Actually, I've lived here for a while, but I was homeschooled," said Itachi as his shoulders visibly relaxed, plus he thought that it was totally genius of him to play along and maybe learn a little bit more about this side of the blonde.

"Homeschooled?! Wow, that must have been tough not having had a lot of people your age around," said the blonde out loud, though by the look on Naruto's face, he had just said it out loud even if he hadn't meant to.

"Not really, but I guess it would have been more fun to hang around people my age, but I don't think I'd have the time to since my parents have always been strict, well more my dad than mom," Itachi was thinking of his own childhood as he conversed with Naruto, only changing facts to fit the moment he found himself in. After all, probably saying that his father only wanted the best and frowned upon failures would have ruined the mood between him and the blonde.

"Hehe, so I guess growing up in your household would have been a little bit too choking for me since my dad gives me freedom to do whatever I want, I mean, within reason ofcourse." Itachi was about to say something like his dad kept him on a short leash, but he was interrupted by the brunette that the blonde was talking to not too long ago.

"Sorry if he's a chatterbox, but it's hard to stop him once he starts," said the brunette to the raven haired boy, "my name is Kiba by the way."

Kiba stretched out his hand and itachi did the same as they clasped in each other in a hand-shake. Just then, the bell, signifying that classes are about to start, ringed and kids came in along with the professor.

Everything seemed to fall to a routine to everyone around him, but he felt the space shift and found himself sitting on a blue mat, dressed in some plain white shirt and plain blue shorts. But before he could even question what was happening, his surroundings changed once more, and he found himself sitting under a huge looming tree, but before he could eve so much as blink, the environment changed and he was now in a funeral as it would seem.

People all around him gathered in clusters wearing black from head to toe and he could see a little kid, probably around 5 or 6 crying into the arms of a much older man who cradled the little boy caringly as if made of the most sensitive glass and would break if held on too tightly.

Rain started pouring as if mourning the loss of whomever it was that was in that casket, however, he found himself rooted to his stop and everything swirled around him once more.

"Are you okay, you looked dazed for a second there?" asked blonde next to him in sincerity. He couldn't figure out why things were fading in and out for him until he concluded that the blonde must have had something to do with it.

Deciding that it was time for him to burst the blonde's bubble, he asked the blonde to come out with him to the hallway since he needed to ask him something and the other agreed, if albeit a little reluctantly. This earned him a smirk from the brunette but he didn't really care as of this moment.

Once they were out of the classroom, he tugged Naruto's arm and let himself hug the younger boy into an unbreakable embrace.

"Why are you still here?" asked Itachi towards the younger boy, but the boy merely dug his face deeper into the arms of Itachi. "Please, I need to know how to get you out."

"You can't," answered the other meekly as he burrowed even further into the warmth provided by the body he clung to.

"So you do know what I'm talking about," said Itachi in a mild tone, finally figuring some things out in his head.

"Yeah, sorry I couldn't just let you know since I wasn't sure myself if you were real." Naruto finally detached himself and looked at the older Uchiha in the face.

"I'm real and I'm here to get you out of wherever this is," Itachi said sincerely.

"Alright, but just to warn you, I don't even know how to get out of here too." A pregnant pause ensued before Naruto spoke up once more, "actually, I think I do know, but I can't go it alone, will you come with me?"

"Anywhere," was all that Itachi said then Naruto grabbed him by the arms as they raced down the hall and found himself in a museum of some sort.

"I think this is my connection, but I'm really not sure, at first I came here to go back in the real world and I thought it would work again but it didn't and I-" said Naruto as he took Itachi by the gigantic painting that looked almost entirely like him, but different in a way.

"So in other words, you're kind of stuck here is that it?"

"Yeah, but maybe you being here can change things, just like how everything kept changing from one scene to another, because before you came, none of those things have happened." Hopeful in his thoughts, Naruto touched the painting once more hoping that maybe a portal of some kind can bring him back but to no avail.

"Why don't we try something else then, something else that you might not have thought of?"

"Okay, but for the entire time I've been here, this and the classroom are the only two things I've been able to get in and out of, like a labyrinth without an exit," informed the blonde.

Time seemed to pass by as they tried everything they could think of. Naruto even opted to running against the painting or something that maybe a jolt could activate something, but before Itachi could protest the blonde's idea, he found the said blonde lying in a heap on the floor clearly dazed by the impact. They also tried to go back to the classroom and found that it kept on repeating the same thing over and over like a tape on a loop.

Then when Naruto proposed to run back and forth from the museum to the classroom and so forth, Itachi let himself be pulled along in the plan, but with him running to opposite way the blonde would go.

As they rounded the third time, Naruto stopped by the classroom since he was feeling a bit weary and tired, but something came at him from out of nowhere as he let out a scream.

Itachi heard the scream and ran to where he figured Naruto was and found the blonde boy sitting by himself in the classroom, which in itself was unusual since the people that were previously there had vanished.

"Naruto what happened? Are you okay?" Itachi came around to Naruto's side and found the blonde dazed, his eyed dilated and unfocused as he muttered 'it hurts, please stop' over and over again.

Confused as to what just happened, he tried to sit down next to the boy, but a dark shadow came out of nowhere and tried to attack Itachi, only this time, Itachi dodged in the nick of time as it grazed his left arm.

In that moment, his left arm fell slack to his side before the burning sensation started. He gritted his teeth as the pain intensified, but when the shadow lunged back towards him, he jumped away once more.

"Naruto listen to me! This thing is probably the reason why you can't leave, so I want you to fight it back!" yelled Itachi as he jumped out of the way one more time.

"I-I-I can't! It hurts! It hurts too much!" whimpered Naruto, but Itachi refused to give up, he sidestepped the oncoming shadow and grabbed Naruto's armed which caused the boy to scream bloody murder, but Itachi didn't let go and hauled off the pained boy to where the painting should have been, but instead he ended up in a living room of some sort. He sat the boy down once more, and looked into Naruto's eyes. The pupils still seemed dilated, but not as much as before.

Only when Itachi allowed himself to relax did the pain in his arm remind him of the immediate danger that they could be in.

"Okay, seriously Naruto, you need to come out of it and focus. Look! We got here to a different place than before! This might have something to do with you and not anything else!"

"But it hurts so much Itachi," said Naruto in a silent whisper.

"I know, okay, I know, but you need to be strong, only you can break out of this thing you cocooned yourself in."

Before itachi could try another pep talk, the shadow had been able to follow them and this time, it had a stronger feel and aura about it that Itachi could have almost sensed the killing intent, the malice it was emanating.

"Leave him alone!" thundered the shadow towards Itachi.

"What are you? Why are you keeping Naruto locked up in whatever this is?!" shouted itachi angrily towards the shadow. Then the shadow merely shimmered and in its place came a carbon copy of Naruto though this one had red eyes and black hair plastered on an almost creamy alabaster skin.

"Because I am him, I am the part of him that wishes for destruction, the part of him that wants to cause pain to whatever it is around him." The shadow seemed calm all of a sudden, but there was malice in its voice and Itachi could tell that it wasn't happy he intruded the boy's mind.

"Are you trying to take over? Is that why you're trying to get rid of your counterpart?"

"No, I am trying to merge him to my being to be whole; I cannot exist solely if he was vanquished, just like how he cannot live on without me." The shadow took a few steps forward, but this time the blonde on the couch stood up as well to face the shadow version of him.

"But I don't want to hurt anyone, I want to protect the people that I love, I can't be truly happy if I knew that I was the cause of someone's suffering."

The shadow took another couple steps towards the blonde, and the elder Uchiha wanted to interfere but he was glued to the spot when Naruto looked at him and shook his head.

This time, Naruto also took the remaining steps between them and he let the shadow wrap its arms around himself.

"I think I know why neither of us can get out of here, it's because we needed each other, but whenever I sensed you near I tried to block you out since I couldn't stand the pain, and I think that was how my own little world was created to separate you from me." Naruto nuzzled his cheek to those of his counterpart, and when they finally understood each other, the shadow lost form and disappeared.

"What just happened?" asked Itachi towards the blonde standing in the middle of the room where the shadow once stood.

"I think it's time for us to leave don't you think Itachi-san?" With a smile on his face, Itachi couldn't very well deny that face anything.

"Alright, but how?" Itachi asked as he moved to where Naruto was and enveloped the smaller blonde in his arms.

"I don't know actually, but maybe-" Naruto was cut off as he and Itachi were pulled away from each other so fast that both lost consciousness.

When Itachi awoke, he found himself surrounded by the familiar faces of Kakashi and Sasuke. He groaned in slight pain as he sat up, but immediately looked over to the side to note that Naruto's eyes had suddenly popped open and he heaved in a massive amount of air, before resuming breathing normally once more.

"Well, it seems that both sleeping beauty woke up at the same time! Pay up Sasuke!" said the grey-haired man towards the unimpressed younger Uchiha.

"Wha? What were you guys betting on?" asked Naruto as he regained his composure.

"Oh nothing much, just that Sasuke here said that one of you will wake up first before the other one does, and I said that you'll both wake up at the same time."

The blonde grinned in response and tried to sit himself up but, he felt dizzy all of a sudden and found himself falling back, but not before Sasuke had caught him in the instant.

"Thanks," murmured the blonde, but the raven caught it and grunted a reply before helping the blonde back onto the bed.

"How long was I out for otouto?" asked Itachi in a calm voice as he rubbed his left arm, he could still feel traces of the pain he had felt not too long ago.

"Just about 13 hours, mother was worried about you," said Sasuke, but all he got from Itachi was a noncommittal grunt.

"I have to ask, where are Sumaru, Haku, and Zabuza?" asked Naruto as he laid down in a more comfortable position on the bed.

"They should be here soon," said Kakashi then continued, "the council asked to talked to them along with the Godaime."

"For what?" inquired the blonde.

"Well, they're from a different village plus Haku and Zabuza are classified as missing-nins so I doubt it's for some party." The blonde could feel a slight amusement coming from the grey haired male, but he just dismissed it.

"Will they be alright though?" implored the blonde though this time it was Sasuke who answered.

"Yeah, Zabuza will more likely get the brunt of the whole thing since the other two are your guardians."

"Will Zabuza-san be punished?" asked the blonde once more in hopes of easing his burdened mind, he wouldn't have asked them to come to the leaf village altogether if he knew that Zabuza would have been in trouble.

"No, I doubt it, but maybe you can vouch for them instead so they don't get in trouble?" asked Sasuke out loud more than stated.

"Can I just barge in on them like that?"

"Yeah, why not? After all, they were only here for you."

"Alright, take me to them."

TO BE CONTINUED!!!

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A/N: Thanks for reading!


	12. Ch 11: Love at First Taste

**Disclaimer:** I don't own this obviously, Masashi Kishimoto owns the Naruto series and I have no affiliation with the Naruto series or whatsoever plus I don't make any money from this story.

* * *

To Transcend My Wings

: : Chapter 11: : Love at First Taste

* * *

"Godaime, we are almost unanimous in our decision and we believe that we just can't have the missing-nin from the Hidden Mist in our village in fear that the Hidden Mist might not take kindly in our acceptance, especially since he defected from their village." The council made up of the elders of the village either nodded or stayed quiet as the one representative talked about what their consensus was regarding the matter.

The Godaime couldn't say that they were just a bunch of old fools when they raised the very same thing that Tsunade, herself, had been mulling around in her head. She looked over to the seated ninjas to her side consisting of Zabuza, Sumaru, and Haku. They each held an emotionless mask on their faces, but she knew that the older guy would raise hell if he was to be separated from his partner.

Knowing very well how losing a loved one feels, Tsunade steeled her resolve and attempted to interject the opposing council, but before she could, the door to the meeting hall opened and Naruto walked in.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I would like the council to thoroughly think over the fates of these ninjas in question." Naruto walked in followed by Sasuke, Itachi and Kakashi but neither of three spoke and let the blonde do all the talking.

The council protested against the interruption, but when Naruto introduced himself, they instantly knew the name to be that of the child of prophecy so most of them died down in their opposition and sided with the blonde, especially since the blonde had said that he would take responsibility if ever the other nins went out of line. He even came so far to say that he would be prepared to leave the village in an instant if they were not welcome in Konohagakure, just to ease the council's minds.

The council found themselves enraptured by the blonde's courage and had mostly agreed to let the nins stay, even gain residence if desired, but ofcourse, there will always that one person to raise their objections and in this case, it came in the form of a man named Danzo.

"As much as I applaud you in the careful words you have spoken, I will have to adamantly object due to the fact that the man is STILL a missing-nin himself and so is his companion, the only reason they are even alive right now is because of your involvement, why do you ask more of the village when you yourself do not hail from these walls." The man had a calm and collected aura about him, but something about him made Naruto want to put his dukes up. It only took a moment before Naruto sensed the cause of his discomfort in the man's visual range.

"I don't mean to be disrespectful, but I need to ask, why do I feel an Uchiha bloodline limit running through your eyes…" Naruto paused but when he knew that he had the room's attention he continued, "Is it because you, yourself took the eyes of an Uchiha traitor and implanted them into your own."

The question itself was rhetorical and it served its purpose, which was to direct attention away from the ninjas in question and more towads their internal affairs. This sent Danzo in a silent rage, silently vowing to repay this one day to the blonde.

"What is the meaning of this?!!! Explain yourself Danzo!" shouted Tsunade angrily, as she slammed a fist onto the desk in front of her, breaking it in pieces.

"I do not need to explain myself to you," said the man with conviction.

"No, you do not, but you do need to explain it to us, and Tsunade… you and the others are dismissed, the other ninjas can stay." When the council members agreed, Tsunade started to file out the rest of the people, and as soon as they got out of the room, they heard some rather heated quarreling and thought that they best leave it alone, which they did and timely headed to Tsunade's office to reconvene.

* * *

Once in Tsunade's office, it was Sasuke who broke the immediate tension. "Why was it suddenly such a big deal that Danzo had sharingan eyes, when Kakashi-sensei has one too?"

"It's not because of the eyes otouto. He did not notify the council nor did he make it public that he took an Uchiha's eyes without the clan's knowledge plus with our clan on guard about our own secrets, he could have very well taken Clan secrets when he took Shisui's eye." Itachi let his explanation sink within his brother, but once the other nodded, he knew that he understood, but it was Sumaru who piped up next.

"How do you know it was this Shisui person that the council man had taken the eye from?"

"Because I was the one who had killed him, and he would have been the only Uchiha who died mostly recently whose body was not tracked and burned to preserve the clan's secrets." It was obvious to everyone that because Itachi was the one who had killed the man, it should have fallen in his hands to burn the body to preserve the clan secrets; thus, the mere fact that he didn't, clued everyone else that a deeper relationship must have been present between them for the so called perfect ninja to disregard protocol.

Neither of them noticed how Naruto's face fell at the thought, but since the silence that fell felt staggering, Kakashi opted to leave saying that he had someplace to visit. Zabuza, thankful that he was now free, pulled Haku out saying that they were going to cozy up somewhere in the village (supposedly to train but with Zabuza and Haku together, who knows what could happen). Sumaru also opted to leave, saying that he wanted to explore the village since it was the first time he had been anywhere but his hometown. Sasuke followed soon after muttering something about how his dad would not like this sort of revelation.

This left Tsunade, Itachi, and Naruto behind in an awkward silence, but the paperwork on top of Tsunade's desk took her attention and she began hacking through the massive paperwork. Naruto also took queue, but did not want to wander alone so he tugged on Itachi's shirt to signal for the older guy to follow out the door.

"Yes? You wanted something Naruto-san?" Itachi dawdled as if almost lazily.

"Umm, well I don't really know my way around and I kind of wanted you to take me to, umm, someplace to eat?" Naruto felt rather unsure of himself now that he was alone with Itachi. For the past few days he was gone (months in the shinobi world) he found himself pining over the elder Uchiha, but now that he was with him it felt different, kind of almost suffocating.

"Alright, what would you like?" Itachi felt rather elated that Naruto wanted to spend time with him, but he also felt a little confused since now that he is in front of the person he's been so obsessed about, he couldn't help but think, why? What was so special about the blonde that made him go nuts every time he thought of the other?

"Umm, I don't really know, but nothing too heavy." Naruto was looking away from Itachi as he looked intently on the floor as if it was the most fascinating thing in the world. After all, to Naruto, this was feeling more and more like a date.

"I think I know a place you might like, follow me," said Itachi and walked away letting the blonde follow him. It was rather amusing for him to see the blonde scamper off to follow him, which made him wonder if the blonde could feel the same way he feels… that almost murderous obsession towards another.

* * *

The two arrived in due time to a stand in the middle of the busy Konoha streets. It was a quaint little stand bereft of any extravagant decorations but it had a welcoming feel to it, and there, the two sat and the old man in charge took their order.

Naruto couldn't decide so he went with the first thing he saw and ordered a pork miso ramen while Itachi ordered the imperial veggie ramen. The two were somewhat left in an awkward silence with neither one of the two wanting to be the first to break that awful silence. It was in that instance that the stand owner brought them their orders and sensed the tension and had said, "Itachi, why are you so coy with your boyfriend, after all this is the first time I've seen you out on a date."

"WE'RE NOT TOGETHER LIKE THAT!" were the unified yells that were thrown by the shocked Uchiha and the embarrassed blonde. The owner just started laughing when he heard them and started muttering about how the youths these days were so much different from when he was younger as he attended to the other arriving customers.

"You know, it's funny, that might have been the first reaction I've seen out of you that didn't seem so serious in nature," said Naruto and when he looked over the older Uchiha and noticed a slight blush. This time, Naruto started bellowing out loud in insane laughter, but stopped when the Uchiha took Naruto's chopsticks and shoved the noodles in the laughing blonde's mouth.

The other started choking almost immediately, but when Naruto tasted the broth and the noodles that invaded his mouth, his eyes widened in amazement. This time, it was Itachi's turn to look at the blonde in amusement when the said blonde started shoving the noodles in his mouth… as if swallowing it directly without having to chew.

As fascinating as it was to watch Naruto, he figured that staring would be rude but it was so hard not to since looking at Naruto shove food in his mouth was like watching a horrible wreck… disastrous but you can't help but watch. To distract himself, he started to eat the food situated in front of him. The two silently ate… well, Itachi ate silently, but Naruto was rather loudly animated in his chewing and it was rather surprising that he didn't choke.

Soon enough, the two finished and itachi paid for the meal despite the blonde's opposition to the fact that he was being treated like a girl, but when Itachi asked him if he had money the blonde pulled out his cash and it turned out that his cash meant nothing to the village since they used a different monetary unit. So in the end, Naruto begrudgingly backed down, and let Itachi pay for the meal.

"Do you want to go someplace with me?... to talk I mean." Naruto all but jumped for the chance as he followed Itachi away from the center of the village, towards another gated section of the village, which had the Uchiha fan symbol. The gates opened almost immediately as they approached and Naruto stayed close to Itachi as they walked through some streets that were hallowed by houses until they reached a forested area and they kept on until they got to a small open area.

"Here, this spot should do." Itachi sat himself down near a nearby tree, reclining his back comfortably. Naruto followed suit soon after but took the other side and reclined in the same position just so that he didn't have to look at the other in an effort to calm his furiously beating heart.

"What did you want to talk about?" asked Naruto softly but Itachi heard it without having to strain his ears… after all, he is a ninja plus it helped that it was only the two of them around for miles.

"I don't know." Truthfully, Itachi did not know what to talk about. But he let his mouth run before his brain could analyze what came out of his mouth next, "but I want to know why I feel so strongly for you."

Naruto, stunned at the sudden directness, couldn't help but smile since this was the exact same thing that he wanted to know.

"Would you believe me if I said that I don't know, because I really don't…" Naruto paused in thought and itachi sensed this so he let the other continue on, "but if I tell you that I think I like you, what will you say?"

Itachi, being his usual stoic self, just stood up from his spot, rounded the tree in between them, bent down and let his lips brush against the blonde, too stunned to react. "Is that enough of an answer?"

Smiling like an idiot, Naruto answered back by letting his lips touch the elder Uchiha's as well. "Yeah I think your answer was perfect."

Naruto let himself be pulled towards itachi's body as the older guy ravaged his mouth… well, ravaged was too strong a word, but the kiss did take Naruto's breath away.

When they finally broke apart, Itachi sat back down and pulled Naruto with him. Naruto ended up having to sit between Itachi's parted legs, close enough but a little bit ways away from touching a part of the other that he didn't think should be factored in so soon.

"What does this make us? I mean obviously you're my guardian and everything, but I don't know if what I feel for you is anything more than a fleeting crush…" Naruto could remember his previous crushes, yet he couldn't say that he had ever felt this crazy over them. If he would have listened to his heart just then it would have told him that he more than wanted the older Uchiha that it bordered the vestiges of need.

"It's funny that you mentioned that, because I don't know what I feel for you too; the kiss was great, but where do we go from here?" Itachi bristled under the thought that he might be getting softer through this, but he himself couldn't deny that he obviously felt something for the blonde that has already passed the desire of just wanting.

Lost in thought, Naruto forgot himself and said something out loud that when he said it, he wanted to take it back almost immediately. "You and Shisui were more than just friends weren't you?"

Naruto felt Itachi's arms, the ones currently wrapped around him, stiffen as soon as the blonde said that.

"Naruto, I-" Itachi wanted to say something but he didn't even know where to start, and much to his chagrin Naruto interrupted once more.

"Hehe, you don't have to say anything you know… I mean, I didn't expect you not to have a past, but I was just slightly annoyed that you didn't make a bigger scene when you found out that Danzo took his eyes for himself." Itachi became wide eyed at the fact that the blonde saw right through him. Yes he did feel like making a scene, but the fact that his ninja mask would have cracked held him back from doing something that… ultimately, he wanted to do. Which was to rip the eyes from Danzo's as painfully as he could.

"I can't, I'm supposed to be the perfect ninja… altogether emotionless." Itachi's words came out in an almost whisper. The breeze it carried brought a chill up Naruto's spine as the words hit his ears.

"Are you trying to convince yourself that?" Naruto felt hurt that Itachi was acting the perfect ninja act with him, but he figured that this was the man's only form of defense. Kind of like how the blonde would hide his pain behind fake smile… it was all a defense mechanism.

"Maybe, sometimes I think it would be best to just follow in the Uchiha way my father laid out for me, after all the village already expects it ever since I turned ANBU at such a young age."

"You don't really want that anymore, do you?" Naruto could feel the older guy's breath waft towards him as he leaned back to let his head rest on the elder Uchiha's chest.

"No, I've-" Itachi tensed up as an unknown chakra became present all of a sudden. In no more than the blink of an eye, Naruto and Itachi readied themselves to whoever it was, the chakra felt menacing, but the weirder part was that it came at them in waves instead of the usual constant hovering feel that most had.

Itachi could sense the chakra perfectly, but Naruto was having a hard time trying to sense it… the fact that he could barely control his own chakra prevented him from being able to sense another.

"What is it? Is it something big?" asked Naruto towards the still rooted Uchiha.

"No, I'm not sure what it is, you stay here, I'll go and check it out." In a flash, Itachi disappeared leaving behind scattered leaves in his wake.

_Yeah right?! Like I'm the type to wait!_ Naruto followed the Uchiha's trail as best as he could, but stopped cold when a guy appeared as if out of nowhere in front of him. The man in front of him had garbs that resembled those of the snake sannin's or the ones his underlings (the sound four) wore that had that hideous purple bow behind them, plus long silver (almost white) hair, but the most noticeable feature were these two red dots that plastered the forehead sitting just up top of the man's eyebrows.

"Namikaze, Naruto I presume, prepare to die." Without a moment's hesitation, the newcomer came at Naruto hard; the blonde, too shocked and scared to move, stared wide-eyed as the man's arms became covered in what he presumed were bones, forming a drill like structure. Naruto wanted to scream for Itachi but found himself rooted to the spot as the killing intent came at him in waves.

Could this be his last few moments? With generic thoughts wiped away, Naruto called for the person he wanted to be close to at the moment…

_"DAD! HELP!"_

TO BE CONTINUED!!!

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A/N: Yay! Thanks again!


	13. Ch 12: Withering Heights

**Disclaimer:** I don't own this obviously, Masashi Kishimoto owns the Naruto series and I have no affiliation with the Naruto series or whatsoever plus I don't make any money from this story.

A/N: Thank you so much to all my readers and reviewers!!! I thank you guys so much!!!

* * *

To Transcend My Wings

: : Chapter 12: : Withering Heights

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_"DAD! HELP!"_

Inches away from Naruto, a surge of the land came straight up and acted like a wall, cushioning the impact that would have hit the blonde otherwise. The attacker backed up a couple of steps as the wall broke down, turned into small spikes and launched themselves towards the white haired male who dodged the attack with ease.

"Reveal yourself," said the unknown male. In front of Naruto, the sand swirled then dissipated revealing a young red-headed male in long robes with the mark of 'love' on his forehead. He also carried a giant gourd on his back.

"Why didn't you move?" asked the red head towards the blonde without looking back. The newcomer was almost similar to Naruto in height, but the red head had this aura of danger around him.

"I-" Naruto began but the red head lost patience and interrupted.

"Nevermind, just stay on the side and try not to die." With no other warning, a surge of sand burst out from the gourd and headed straight for the white haired male. The white haired male struggled in the hold of the sand as it surrounded his body almost entirely, save for his head then the red head lowly muttered, "Sand burial jutsu."

Naruto could see the sand harden at that instant as it squeezed its prey, but the prey wasn't going to be taken down that easily and broke through as more spikes appeared from the man's body.

"Interesting, you come from the Kaguya clan since you possess the kekkei genkai allowing your body to use your own bones as your weapon."

"It seems you know of my background, but that won't put you at an advantage. I also know of you, Gaara of the wind, is it not? You are famous for your own use of the sand, controlling them, molding them into whatever you will them to be using your chakra. Well allow me to introduce myself; I am Kimimaro of the Kaguya clan."

The two launched towards each other once more, even if Gaara did not move, his sand surged forward as the other turned his arm into a drill once more, breaking through the sand that came at him at high speeds. Gaara, had his own precautions set and raised more sand, acting like a sand wall in front of him. This, however, did not prove as effective since Kimimaro just went through it like butter and had managed to give a small cut towards the red head's face.

The battle raged on for a while, and Naruto just stood there watching the battle unfold before his eyes. He could barely keep up as each attack that Kimimaro threw Gaara blocked and with each attack that Gaara launched, Kimimaro either dodged them or countered them just as easily.

The battle almost ended when Kimimaro used a jutsu he called, Dance of the Clematis: Flower, the jutsu was similar to the one that Kimimaro had tried to use to kill Naruto when he first came at him, but this time, the drill like structure covered the hands all the way to the arms and past. It was a much larger version of its predecessor. With the massive chakra it sent out, Gaara was forced to use his Ultimate Absolute Defense: Shield of Shukaku just to block it.

Both of their attacks took their toll on their bodies and chakra supplies. Naruto could tell that their chakra supplies were almost depleted.

In that instance, out of nowhere, a mass of what seemed like ethereal ghosts came out of nowhere and had struck both Kimimaro and Gaara passing right through them. The two felt the energy drain from their bodies, and they fell to their knees gasping for air.

Naruto, seeing the turn of events, rushed to Gaara's side. As soon as Naruto's hand brushed Gaara's, a bright light burst forth and threw Naruto towards Kimimaro who was still catching his breath. Naruto's back collided with Kimimaro's chest and another light burst forth once more, throwing Naruto to the side. Naruto could make out the sign of Earth being imprinted on Kimimaro's hand and the sign of Wind on Gaara's.

Naruto could feel the burning sting on his stomach reminiscent to when Naruto had found his other guardians. Then the burning intensified and he couldn't help but double over when he felt the stinging sensation exponentially multiply. Tears of agony leaked out uncontrollably, but what surprised him more was that the man who wanted him dead not too long ago, turned out to be a guardian… his guardian to be exact.

Once the pain dulled to a mere throb Naruto made his way over to the two downed ninjas. He first checked over the red headed one and let his own chakra surface to his hand in the form of a glowing green ball. Naruto couldn't explain how he knew to create these kinds of jutsu without prior training, but brushed it off as something that the fox had given him knowledge to.

The medicinal jutsu worked its way through Gaara's system and had eased the body's fatigue, but the blonde could do nothing to help the ninja recover his chakra supply… that will come in time through rest.

As Naruto neared the white haired male who looked to be down for the count, another one of those ethereal ghosts lunged from the shadows and headed for the blonde. Naruto, noticing the oncoming attack managed to dodge it, but it had graced his right arm and it fell slack against his side.

"Aww, the poor baby is defenseless," sneered a female voice. Naruto looked back and saw a red head standing on top of a branch with a flute on one hand accompanied by a rather horrendous looking monster with the ghost he saw earlier coming out of its mouth.

"If I remember correctly, you were there when I went with Orochimaru, what do you want?" asked Naruto.

"Well well! I guess I'm just that memorable! I wanted to take you out myself, but it seems that reinforcements will be coming around soon so I'll just take my leave and take that useless Kimimaro with me." Tayuya used her flute to command the monster she called a doki to take the unconscious male. Naruto, moving swiftly, tossed the white haired male to where Gaara laid before the doki had tackled the blonde, tossing him a couple of feet away.

Thankfully, much to the blonde's appreciation, a group of ninjas appeared and the red headed woman was forced to retreat. Still reeling from the hit, Naruto got up shakily and headed over to the two unmoving males.

"Damn, that hurt!" muttered the boy, staggering to a tree, leaning against it to brace himself so he could catch his breath. He looked at the newcomers place both Gaara and Kimimaro in a stretcher when a couple of medic-nins came into the scene. They looked reluctant to take Kimimaro with them, but Naruto reassured them saying that he'll take responsibility since the man is his guardian.

"Sorry to have left you alone," said Itachi as he appeared in front of Naruto.

"It's alright, I'm fine, but what kept you?" asked Naruto.

"I guess they attacked as a squad and two of Orochimaru's subordinate attacked me out of nowhere; I guess their real plan was to get you." Itachi looked at Naruto with a slight apologetic tone lacing his voice, but in Naruto's head, Itachi shouldn't apologize for anything, after all who could have known what the enemy was planning.

"It's alright."

The conversation ended just like that. Naruto pulled Itachi to sit right next to him. When the other had agreed and sat down, Naruto laid his head on Itachi's shoulder and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

It has been almost a week since the incident, and Gaara had fully recovered in the first week. Tsunade said that it might have been Naruto that allowed the red head to heal so quickly since he applied a healing jutsu right after the attack. Naruto rejoiced in hearing that bit of news, but when Naruto asked about Kimimaro, Tsunade that Kimimaro's body had been none too worse for wear when he was admitted in the hospital. She said that there were lacerations, bruises and scars all over the back and sides of the white haired male and it was older than those of the attack he received previously. Tsuande, also mentioned that the boy had an ailment that could be life threatening, but with her genius, she and her team of medics were able to cure the male completely. In the end result, however, Kimimaro is to be confined in the hospital. It would have been a pain to keep the man confined, but thankfully (and unfortunately) the man is yet to still awaken.

While that was all happening, Naruto had tried to talk to Gaara soon after the event had taken place, but the red head was livid and had wanted to be left alone. One glare from the guy sent Naruto scampering away. This doesn't mean Naruto stopped trying.

Thankfully though, Tsunade had filled the boy in the situation. Gaara was none too happy to have another responsibility, but he didn't voice or show it. The red head, though now a guardian, still had other responsibilities to complete and had to return to his village to inform his father of the predicament, and also to ask if he could take an extended amount of time away from the village to be near his charge… who in this case would be Naruto.

Right now, the blonde, walked up to the room that had Kimimaro contained. A sealing jutsu was placed on the room to prevent Kimimaro from leaving if ever he awoke; only the medic ninjas would normally have access to the room, but Naruto was an exception for obvious reasons.

"Hello sleepy-head, do you know you've been asleep for a week now?" Naruto started before sitting down on the seat next to the bed. "I wonder when you'll wake up, because I'm kind of excited to meet another one of my guardians. I mean, I know you tried to kill me and all, but you're still a guardian and I- well, I really don't know what to feel about you…" Naruto was interrupted by a knock on the door, and was greeted by an annoyed Itachi.

"I told you, I don't like you hanging around him by yourself." Clipped and straight to the point, Naruto was beginning to find out things about Itachi that was as much a turn-off as it was endearing. One of them is that whole possessiveness thing. Naruto had never met anyone his whole life who was ever that possessive, though his dad could pass for it.

He could remember this one time, when his dad found out that he and Kiba had started going out and Minato had gone berserk. For that first week after the discovery, Naruto was forbidden to see Kiba when his dad was not around. Ofcourse, this did not mean that the blonde did not sneak out to meet the brunette. Well, in the end, Minato loosened his hold on the boy, but there was always that father's watchful eye following Naruto whenever the blonde would be out with Kiba. Even when they had broken up, Minato was still weary of the brunette every time he came around.

"I'll be fine Itachi, I swear you act like my dad." Naruto couldn't help but roll his eyes as Itachi glared at him for the comparison.

"Fine, I was just stopping by to say that I'll be going on a mission, so I'll see you in a few days," said itachi.

"Okay, but… umm… Itachi?"

"Hn?"

Naruto tiptoed and brushed his lips across Itachi's cheek before saying a quick goodbye and running back to the room where Kimimaro still slept. Itachi let a small smile be displayed on his lips as he left not caring about the way people saw him; after all, he only had eyes for one person. Then a horrible thought struck him, _what if the blonde had admirers?_

Suddenly his aura darkened and he looked pissed, for a lack of a better word. _Well, I'll take care of that when I get back… no one will dare challenge an Uchiha when I make my intentions public._ Thoughts swirled in Itachi's head, but he decided to let it go for the moment since making himself angry could only cause him to make a mistake in a mission, and mistakes were just not acceptable.

Back at the room, the blonde blushed at the thought of how girly he's acting. He couldn't believe that he kissed the older male, on the cheek, but still… it was nerve wracking since they haven't really decided whether or not to pursue what they were feeling.

"Are you going to just hyper-ventilate there like an idiot muttering to yourself?" asked the now awake Kimimaro.

"Oh! You're awake! I'll call Tsunade!" the blonde said out in surprise. He was stopped when an arm grabbed him and prevented him from moving. The blonde suddenly became very fearful that the man would attack him, after all, they were at close range and the white haired male could just as easily make one of those bones strike him from any part of his body.

"No, not yet, I need to talk to you," said the other rather seriously.

"Yeah, I figured, okay ask away," said the blonde; letting out the deep breath he didn't know he was holding as he sat back down to the chair adjacent to the bed.

"You did something to me, I can't explain it, but I can feel you, like you're underneath my skin but at the same time as if you're embracing me, welcoming me closer." The white haired male looked confused but that was his best explanation.

"I'm no expert here, but I think this has something to do with the whole guardianship thing," Naruto looked at the other hoping that he understood but a questioning glance told him that he needed to explain further. "I was told that I was… AM, a child of prophesy and that I will have nine guardians as my protector as I go on my journey here in your world."

"My world? What do you mean?" asked Kimimaro.

"You know what, let me show you something first before I tell you everything," said Naruto as he led Kimimaro out of the room.

As they turned to leave, Naruto had forgotten to remove the jutsu in the room and when Kimimaro touched the door knob; his body was flung back onto the bed.

"Oh! I'm so sorry! I forgot there was a jutsu in the room to keep you in! Hold on let me dispel it first." The blonde formed a couple of handsigns and the jutsu faded to finally let the two out. Kimimaro was being too complacent for Naruto's own taste, which caused a couple of alarms to ring in his head, but he let his heart, which was telling him that Kimimaro will follow him to death, take the lead here so he led him up to the roof of the hospital.

"What are we doing here?" asked Kimimaro.

"Tell me, what do you see when you look at this village?" asked the blonde.

"I don't know, people and shinobi, I guess." Kimimaro looked at Naruto in confusion, wondering why the question was even relevant.

"Exactly! You see people like this and you don't find them fascinating the way I do," Naruto looked excitedly at the other ninja and continued, "this world, this shinobi lifestyle is so known and abundant in the entirety of this world that none of you will be able to comprehend having to live your lives with no kekkei genkais, no jutsus, no chakras, and anything like that!"

"What are you trying to say?" asked Kimimaro.

"I'm saying, I'm not from here, I came from a world totally different from this." Kimimaro was having a hard time believing him, but who was he to question the blonde, all he knew was that he had this longing to be near the blonde, and not let any harm come his way.

"I still don't understand, but tell me why make me your guardian?" A great question, naruto could only wish that he could answer him, but not even the blonde knew why.

"You know, I've never really understood that myself," Naruto started as he sat on the roof's ledge followed by Kimimaro who did the same thing. "All I know is that, my guardians have been drawn to me for some reason. It was a coincidence that I met Itachi, Sasuke and Kakashi the first time I stepped foot on shinobi soil, then later on when I came upon a village somewhere I met Sumaru. I even met Haku when I was lost heading back to Konoha. Then you and Gaara came in the picture later without me ever having to seek any of you out."

"I really wanted to kill you that day you know," said Kimimaro.

"Yeah? I couldn't tell," quipped back Naruto.

"So why do I feel like giving up my entire existence for you?" asked Kimimaro as he looked towards the blonde he sat right next to.

"Unfortunately, I think that's a side effect of turning into my guardian, although let's just say that a certain red head is the closest one to killing me if I annoyed him… so totally un-guardian like right?!" Naruto and Kimimaro shared a look and had ended up laughing for no other reason except for the fact that they could both imagine the one named Gaara throwing sand shurikens at the blonde for just the fact that he's annoyed. When the laughter subsided, the conversation continued.

"Well, what do I do now? Oto and my lord would not want me back, I am a failed vessel after all," murmured Kimimaro low enough just enough for the blonde to hear.

"What do you mean failed vessel?" asked the blonde.

"Exactly that, I was supposed to be a vessel of lord Orochimaru, but when I became ill, he told me that I am no longer suited to being his vessel and cast me aside. The fact that Tayuya-"

"Who's Tayuya?" asked the blonde, interrupting the other.

"The one with the flute, the one able to create and control the dokis," answered Kimimaro.

"Oh her, so continue?" Naruto became embarrassed that he interrupted the other, but Kimimaro just shrugged it off.

"When she purposely attacked me, it was the most obvious sign that Lord Orochimaru wants me gone. Now I don't know who to live for, I promised my life to lord Orochimaru after all," continued Kimimaro.

"Why not live for yourself? I found out that your clan was wiped out from the Godaime so why not live for your own bliss?" asked the blonde.

"I only know of being wanted, I can't imagine myself as anything else." Kimimaro had this look that pained Naruto to see so he came up with a plan to get the other out of the depressing funk.

"Then won't you live for me? I mean, I really have no other friend in this world save for the guardians, but they too have lives to live. I mean, I'll still need you in the future after all," said Naruto while letting a smile mar his face.

"Okay, I devote my life to you," said Kimimaro as he took Naruto in his arms and carried the blonde, jumping down from the roof of the hospital. Naruto could almost feel the wind being knocked away from his body as they jumped a five story building.

"Why'd you do that for?!" screamed Naruto when they landed.

"To show you that as long as I'm alive, I'll protect you, no matter what," answered the white haired male.

"Uhh, okay so how about we go eat! I'm starving! I'll treat you to the best food you'll ever taste since the Godaime and Itachi gave me money for food while I'm here! So let's get RAMEN!!"

Kimimaro couldn't help but look on in amusement at the blonde, so he let the blonde lead the way, but he halted just as quickly when he looked down at himself and noticed he was still in hospital clothes.

"Hey! Come on!" shouted the blonde.

"I can't," muttered the other.

"Why not? I said I'll treat," explained the blonde.

"No, it's that I need clothes, I'm still wearing a hospital gown." Naruto finally took notice and started laughing causing a red tint to appear in the other's face.

"Oh right! I forgot Haku dropped off a couple of things you can wear when you were out could, let's get you back and change you!" Naruto told Kimimaro to just teleport them back to the room and that was exactly what Kimimaro did. The white haired male changed attire and donned the traditional garb of the chuunin of the village of Konoha, much like Kakashi's own attire.

"Finally! Now let's go for ramen!" the blonde cheered and hauled the white haired male out towards their destination.

TO BE CONTINUED!!!

* * *

A/N: Thanks again! :)


	14. Ch 13: The Remaining Pieces

**Disclaimer:** I don't own this obviously, Masashi Kishimoto owns the Naruto series and I have no affiliation with the Naruto series or whatsoever plus I don't make any money from this story.

* * *

To Transcend My Wings

: : Chapter 13: : The Remaining Pieces

* * *

Kimimaro currently found himself walking with the blonde down the streets of Konoha, the next day, heading to the Hokage tower. He was currently mulling over the events that led him to this point in time. He was the sole survivor of the Kaguya clan, then he gave his body to Orochimaru's use, then he was sent on a mission to kill the one he now walked with, then waking up to find himself a guardian to said target… and finally, pledging his life to the other… To say that the events were unusual or unexpected would have been an understatement, but Kimimaro had found another reason to live and therefore, is not complaining.

"Don't you even want to know why we're heading to the Hokage?" asked Naruto towards his silent companion. Not that Naruto felt like divulging every secret he had to the white haired male he has only known for almost two weeks, but the silence between them was choking. It wasn't that Naruto felt awkward around the other male, it was just that Naruto liked to talk.

"I only need to know what you want to give out," answered Kimimaro seriously.

"BORING!" yelled out Naruto loudly gauging the other for a reaction, but he got nothing. "Ugh! Okay! You said that you'd devote your life to me right?"

"Yes, I did say that."

"But I don't want you as just a servant or anything like that… I want to be your friend." Naruto looked at Kimimaro with a smile on his face hoping that Kimimaro understood him.

"Alright… I will try and act more like a companion you call a friend." Kimimaro tried to smile back at Naruto but years of unuse had practically washed away the ability of the man to smile. Kimimaro had never needed to use facial expressions like smiling in front of the snake sannin before and even with his clan before that, so he didn't know where to start.

"Yeah, we'll work on that smile next time, but first we need to talk to the Hokage." Naruto wanted to laugh at the way the white haired male tried to recreate a smile, but thought it be rude. After all, being raised by a particular snake bastard could have that effect on people.

"Hi Grandma!" chirped Naruto merrily as he strode on over to the Godaime's desk.

"I'm busy brat; I don't know how your parents tolerated you!"

"That's not nice grandma! I just wanted to ask you a favor since I need to get into the Konoha correctional facility." Naruto followed up his request with the best puppy dog eyes that he could manage, but it didn't produce the result he was hoping for.

"Absolutely not! Do you know how many hardened criminals are in that place!"

"I'm not completely stupid! I know that, but I think one of my guardians is locked up there and I need that person to complete my guardian quest!" Tsunade and Kimimaro were both stunned that Naruto could have known the location of his guardian so it was left to Tsunade to ask the most obvious question.

"How do you know that?"

"Well, I remember talking with Kimimaro one time and he asked me why I picked him as my guardian and I told him that it was all just coincidences, so I decided to test out the connections I have with the guardians and one of my visions led me to the Konoha correctional facility, plus I know it's a girl so I'm that much closer to finding her!" Naruto grinned towards the other two, looking smug as if he had just said that he knew how to solve world poverty or something equal to that.

"You can find them consciously now?" asked Tsunade in an incredulous tone.

"Maybe, I don't know… All I got when I tried searching for a vision was this guy and girl, they both had long midnight black hair, and the girl's vision led me to that place, but the guy was in this house, he wasn't necessarily locked up but he felt trapped," said Naruto matter of factly.

"Well, I guess I can give you clearance, but I require that you take at least two of your guardians with you," said Tsunade as she started filling out a scroll, which Naruto assumed to be the clearance she just granted him.

"Alright, I'll look for the others; I'll be back later to pick up the clearance." Naruto waved his goodbye, took Kimimaro with him and went on a scavenger hunt around Konoha looking for the other guardians to see if they were available.

The first stop that Naruto made was in a house near the outskirts of the town which housed Naruto along with Sumaru, Kimimaro, Haku and Zabuza. Naruto was greeted by Zabuza and Sumaru as soon as the pair entered.

Zabuza had flat out refused to help the blonde since he said that he wasn't the blonde's guardian and the only reason he was still in the village was because Haku refused to leave the blonde's side saying that it was a guardian's duty to remain near his charge. Of course, Zabuza countered that it was all horseshit, but Haku shut him up by threatening him of castration if he didn't behave and settle down for the moment.

Sumaru said that he exhausted his chakra supply training with Haku that day so he probably wouldn't be of much use in a fight even if he did agree to go. Naruto didn't even need to ask Haku, since the other was dead asleep on the couch between the other two males and had neither stirred nor awoken with all the commotion.

Naruto asked Kimimaro if he wanted to rest that day too and just go on the next day, but the guy was adamant that he go with the blonde so Naruto went off to search for a minimum of one more guardian. Since Itachi was off on a mission and Gaara wasn't back from the sand village, this left either Kakashi or Sasuke.

Naruto found Kakashi in the training field with another ninja who looked like a jonin, if Naruto would have guessed, along with three genins.

"Hey Kakashi! That must be the blonde boy you are talking about, right?" pointed the jonin towards the approaching blonde accompanied by the white haired male.

"Yeah, that would be him," muttered the grey haired male before turning his attention back to the genins. "Team, this is my charge, Naruto Namikaze… Naruto meet my genin team: Konohamaru, Udon, and Moegi."

"Hello Mr. Namikaze, pleased to meet your acquaintance!" greeted the three in unsion.

"Hi! You must all be so proud to have a teacher like Kakashi!" answered back Naruto in greeting. The three however looked unimpressed with their teacher and had muttered an unenergetic 'yeah' thrown in with a 'maybe.'

"Don't forget to introduce me! I am Maito Gai!" The man in green spandex took the blonde by the hand and shook it vigorously.

"Hi, I'm Naruto and this is Kimimaro," said Naruto after he regained his bearings. "Well, I see you guys are busy so I'll just go look for Sasuke instead." Naruto bid his farewell and turned in the direction of the Uchiha mansion with Kimimaro, still silent, right next to him.

"You don't talk much, do you?" asked Naruto.

"It was never required of me to make small talk before so I am a little uncertain about what to say," said Kimimaro.

"Nah, It's alright, I won't force a conversation if you aren't comfortable… I guess I just got too used to Kiba talking all the time." Kimimaro ascertained that this Kiba person must have been a friend so Kimimaro just nodded in understanding and kept up with the blonde's pace as they head to their destination.

It wasn't long before they were at the Uchiha mansion and greeted by a beautiful woman who resembled Sasuke quite a bit.

"Hi! My name is Naruto and this here is Kimimaro, we were looking for Sasuke, is he in?" asked Naruto.

"Oh yes! My son just came back home not too long ago, I'll get him for you."

"Thanks."

"Sasuke, you have visitors!" called the long dark haired woman towards her son sitting on the couch adjacent to where she currently stood. The raven looked over at the blonde and motioned for him to come on in along with the companion.

"Itachi isn't around, if you're looking for him," said Sasuke lowly not tearing his attention away from the book he was reading.

"Actually, I came looking for you, you see-" Before Nartuo could explain his need of the raven's assistance; Sasuke's mother came back in from the kitchen and had set down a plate of cookies and drinks for the guests and Sasuke as well.

"Thank you for your hospitality," said Kimimaro followed by thanks from Sasuke and Naruto as well. The woman just smiled in return and told them that if they ever needed anything else, all they had to do was ask. And just like that, she went back to whatever it was that she was doing right before the pair had come knocking on her door.

"Continue," said Sasuke as he took a sip of the tea that was laid down in front of them.

"Right, well you see, I need you to come with me and Kimimaro to the Konoha correctional facility to see if one of my guardians is really there." Naruto looked hopeful that Sasuke would say yes, since he was their last option after all.

"Fine… it's better than waiting here doing nothing. Since aniki left there's been nothing to do around here."

"Great! Let's meet at the Hokage tower in half an hour! I need to get a couple of things first!" Naruto and Kimimaro took their leave and headed back to their place to get some supplies like shurikens and kunais before heading back out again to meet the younger Uchiha at the Hokage tower.

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"Hello, I'm here with the Hokage's permission to look for someone…" said Naruto towards the two guards posted in guard duty.

"Do you know exactly who you're looking for? Age or any demographics on them?" asked one of the shinobi who had a long raven hair flowing behind him. His most defining point, however, was the lilac eyes. It made it look like the man was blind, but it suited him in a way. Also at that point, Naruto knew who the long haired raven was, but played it aloof.

"All I know is that she's a girl, and she has long hair, uhmm kind of like yours actually and really dark almost midnight black eyes." Naruto recounted as much as he could as he thought of the vision he had.

"Got it!" This time it was a man who had this bandage across his face that spoke up. "The name is Kotetsu, and this guy is Neji if you want to know… anyway, I narrowed your description down to two people and since the other one on my list is dead then there's only one choice left. Come on, follow me."

Naruto introduced himself and Kimimaro and Sasuke muttered a simple grunt that Naruto took as a sign that he didn't need the introduction. The blonde and his group followed the two shinobis as they were led to a cell holding a woman who looked just about Naruto described.

"What do you want?" snarled the girl.

'You have a visitor, I think," answered Kotetsu. "So this is Kin Tsuchi, she was locked up here when she tried helping Orochimaru take down the village when the third Hokage was still alive and in office."

The blonde just nodded towards Kotetsu and turned his attention back at the girl. Kin had stepped up to the bars and looked at the blonde, scrutinizing him and sizing him up.

"Umm, could you do me a favor and hold out your hand? I also need to ask this of you Neji-san." Neji grunted and looked weirded out but did as ask, and the girl did the same after getting a glare from the impatient Uchiha. Kin also looked confused when she took notice of Kimimaro with the blonde, knowing that the man was a subordinate of Orochimaru as she had been before she was left for dead.

The moment Naruto touched both the Kin's and Neji's hands a light surrounded the three and the signs of sound and sun began forming on Kin's and Neji's hand respectively while the signs were etching themselves on Naruto's stomach as well.

The moment the light faded, Neji and Kin withrew their hands from the blonde's hold since the blonde started to turn hot. It was almost scalding hot to touch the blonde's hand. Then another moment passed in silence before the blonde doubled over in pain clutching his stomach in pain. Kimimaro and Sasuke tried to go near the blonde to see what could be wrong, but a red colored chakra suddenly surged around the blonde forcing the others around him to back up.

"What the hell's going on?!" screamed Kin from inside her cell.

The chakra around the blonde tore the blonde's clothes right off, singing it into nothing. The signs on his stomach started to change and meld together. The random placement of the signs flowed towards the center of the blonde's taut stomach then swirled outwards until the swirl covered the abdomen and the nine signs returned and surrounded the swirl.

The angry red chakra began surging once more then died down to nothing, leaving the blonde panting and gasping for breath, disregarding the fact that he was nude. When the others saw that the threatening red chakra had died, they tried to check up on the blonde, but another burst of chakra came out of the blonde knocking the bystanders a couple of feet away.

Another surge came again, but this time, it was strong enough to destroy the building, everything that the chakra touched was incinerated. Kin and the rest of the guardians were protected somehow, but Kotetsu and the other prisoners weren't as lucky.

The lashing force of the red chakra had only burned Kotetsu's right arm when it neared the man so he hid behind the Uchiha to protect himself as well. The ones who knew nothing of the event died instantly the moment the scalding red chakra touched them.

In the end, only a couple prisoners were left alive: one of them was a man named Mizuki, and the brothers Raijin and Fujin. The aftermath left a crumbled building and its inhabitants, either dead or semi-conscious.

"Damn, what was that all about?" groaned a silvery haired male.

"Uh, Fujin? I think we can leave now that they opened our cell," said a rather big man towards his brother who looked just like him.

"Yeah! They did! I guess we're free now Raijin!" agreed the other happily.

"You idiots! The cell didn't open! Someone destroyed the facility!" yelled the silver haired male.

"Hey Raijin! I'm hungry! Let's go see if they have any food for us! Come with us too Mizuki!" said one of the brothers.

"Follow me! I know where there's plenty of food to eat!" Mizuki smirked as he thought of using the brothers in his revenge against the village that dared scorn his genius. For turning sides during Orochimaru's attack on the village, he was prosecuted by the current Hokage to spend the rest of his life in jail to repent… though that is highly unlikely.

"Not so fast," rasped Kotetsu, staggering to get back to his feet. Kotetsu held his damaged arm and stood in front of the three, now free, ninjas with only a kunai clenched on the available hand for protection. He tried to attack, but in his condition, he could barely do any damage and he was sent sprawling on the ground by a harsh blow from Mizuki.

Awakening in the sounds of a struggle, Naruto got up from the ground and headed over to the shinobi that had just gotten hit. Kotetsu now noticed that the clothing that was incinerated from the blonde had been replaced by a form fitting black shirt and some loose fitting black cargo pants. The guy's face that used to be unmarred now carried these whisker-like marks making him seem a little feral. All in all, even the guy's aura felt different, as if he wasn't the same person.

"Leave him alone," said Naruto in an even and clipped tone.

"What will you do runt? Just get out of the way if you don't want to get hurt," sneered Mizuki.

"Don't say I didn't warn you," said Naruto as he summoned up chakra on his palm into a ball. The ball started getting bigger and bigger until it looked like a gigantic version of a shuriken.

Mizuki, not wanting to know what the jutsu could do, attacked first followed by the brothers. Before they could reach the blonde, Naruto had completed in gaining the needed amount of chakra and had launched the jutsu. The shuriken made of pure chakra collided with the three and it had killed the three in mere moments.

By this time, the others had already awakened and had seen the power the blonde had just shown. It was both incredible and disturbing at the same time. The thought of the blonde killing others in cold blood just didn't seem to fit the blonde's image.

Sasuke noticed the blonde wavering, but before he could get to the blonde. Itachi swooped in and caught the blonde as he fainted.

"Otouto,f take Kotetsu to the hospital and inform the Godaime of what happened, and take the rest of them with you… And finally inform the new guardians of their guardianship. I'll take Naruto home." Itachi looked emotionless as he gave orders to his brother and indirectly, Kimimaro, but Sasuke knew that it was troubling Itachi to have come back to find Naruto looking as he did.

"Take care of Naruto-sama," said Kimimaro.

Itachi didn't dignify that with an answer as he leapt from tree to tree carrying the blonde back to the house he stayed in.

_I will, better than any of you can._

TO BE CONTINUED!!!

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A/N: Thanks so much!!!


	15. Ch 14: Visual Kisses

A/N: I realize that this story is taking me forever to update but I have an explanation for that... basically, I lost all motivation and inspiration for this fic a while back... BUT! I really will try to complete this fic! No promises but I will try!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own this obviously, Masashi Kishimoto owns the Naruto series and I have no affiliation with the Naruto series or whatsoever plus I don't make any money from this story.

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To Transcend My Wings

: : Chapter 14: : Visual Kisses

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Naruto awoke with a groan and found himself in the arms of Itachi Uchiha. The blonde was still disoriented from having expended an abnormally huge amount of chakra when he fought the three shinobi who had managed to survive the aftermath of his _changes_. Not merely by physical appearance due to the new markings on how stomach and the whisker like scars on his face as well… but the difference was that he felt more powerful, like he could take on the rest of world.

"You know, you're a lot cuter when you're not so serious… try not to frown too much… For the record, it'll take more than that to kill me you know," muttered Naruto as he stared at the other's contorted facial features.

"Stop staring," murmured Itachi in an almost silent whisper as he felt the other's presence through focused eyes.

"But apart from the rooftops we passed by, you're the only one to look at," said Naruto with an obvious amusement outlining his tone. Although underneath that amusement, an underlying sadness was present.

"Tell me." Itachi, so used to being straightforward just asked without easing his way into the topic.

"Itachi-san, I killed someone didn't I?" asked Naruto seriously. Itachi nodded meekly but didn't say anything. "I want to get out of here for a little bit; I'm taking Kimimaro with me if he's willing and maybe even Haku, Zabuza, or Sumaru, I know the others can't leave as freely… I just want to say goodbye for a while."

"No." Itachi looked at the blonde with frustration in his eyes and the blonde could see and feel it but he just didn't feel like catering to the other man's desires right now… he wanted to be selfish and just run away and be left alone.

"This isn't up for debate, I'm going… with or without your permission."

"Damn it, why are you so damn clueless," said Itachi. He was angry, VERY angry but he didn't let his voice turn up a notch though the venom was laced tightly in his tone of voice. Itachi gripped Naruto tighter and decidedly hauled off the blonde with him as he jumped from rooftop to rooftop heading towards the Hokage tower overlooking the mountain where the Hokage's faces are carved.

"Let go! You're hurting me!" Naruto yelled loudly this time and Itachi let go when he knew that no one would invade their privacy at this point, at least not without his knowledge. "What the hell's wrong with you?"

"Didn't you ever stop to think that maybe I wouldn't want to be apart from you?" Itachi could barely hold on to his emotions when he's near Naruto and the blonde telling him that he had to get away was the last straw.

"Am I just supposed to know that? I didn't want to just assume anything!"

"I hate this, I want to know now, what are we?" asked Itachi. Naruto, who was just previously confused as to where Itachi was coming from, finally realized that this wasn't about him leaving to go and calm down, but this was more about the fact that he would be leaving before he and Itachi could determine what they were in each other's lives.

"I… I don't know, is there even an 'us'?" Naruto couldn't look at Itachi at the moment so he opted to turn around and face the Kages of the past instead. "To tell you the truth, I've thought a lot about what you and I have and if it would be alright with you, I want-"

Naruto stopped midsentence as Itachi pulled him close to his body letting his actions speak from himself. Naruto didn't bother to speak any longer as an instant wave of heat washed over him but it soon dissipated when the other let go of him but still kept him at arm's length.

Itachi leaned forward and until his lips met the stunned blonde. The kiss did not deepen since Naruto pulled away a moment later. "You're too confident, what if I wanted to say that we shouldn't see each other like this?"

"If that was true, you'd have pushed me away by now."

"See, you're too confident. What if I just liked being in your arms like this, but I don't really feel the same way about you that you do for me?" Naruto had a slight smile lining his words and Itachi could tell. The older man just held the other tighter across his body before retorting an answer.

"Try and joke around and you'll find yourself in great pain." Itachi sounded so serious that anyone else would have probably cried or passed out in the midst of it all by now but Naruto knew better.

"So since you like me that much, how about we stay here like this for a while." Itachi nodded in agreement and held on a little bit tighter. Their warmth swept across each other, each could hear and feel the other's heart beating. Neither of the two stirred in each other's embrace.

"Let's go, you're shivering. We'll talk to Lady Tsunade in the morning," said Itachi. The elder Uchiha then made a few quick signs and they found themselves back in the Uchiha mansion in Itachi's room where he laid the blonde down. "Sleep here, I'll be in the guestroom instead."

Before Itachi could make a move to leave Naruto got a hold of his shirt stopping him from moving. "Stay with me?" Naruto looked longingly at Itachi and the other couldn't resist so he climbed on to the bed and slid right next to Naruto.

The blonde clung onto the other's arms and had been to the brink of slumber, but a sudden headache caught him off guard and had him crying out in pain. Itachi was immediately alerted and held the boy closer to him as he arranged them into a sitting position. The intense pain was like searing white heat that ran right through and around the blonde's system. For every breath Naruto took, the pain intensified.

All of a sudden, different scenarios flashed in his mind in varying intervals of degree. Some of those scenarios were rather pointless, like him sitting down on a patch of grass and looking up at the sky smiling like an idiot, and others seemed to be more ominous. He saw a battlefield littered with thousands of unidentified bodies.

Then others whizzed on right by as if he was watching a movie with random scenes plugged in to fill up the time. Naruto couldn't differentiate whether they were important or otherwise since they passed by so quickly that he barely had time to process any of it.

When the pain finally died down, naruto found himself lying down on his stomach on the bed where he previously occupied with Itachi. The only difference, this time, was that he found himself surrounded by the entire Uchiha household. He found himself looking up towards Itachi's questioning face followed by Sasuke's confused one. He also found himself within viewing range of Itachi's and Sasuke's parents.

If he felt pain not just too long ago, then now… he felt more embarrassed to the fact that he's in Itachi room and bed more than the ruckus he previously caused. Plus, to make things worse, what will Itachi's parents think of him sleeping in the same bed with their eldest son… and if Minato was an example of parental behavior then he might as well be the big bad wolf that the parents more than likely try and drive away.

"Are you alright now?" asked Sasuke, breaking the silence that had descended in the group. Naruto nodded in embarrassment, unable to answer in fear that his voice would break.

"Rest here, you are our guest," said Fugaku towards the young blonde then turned his attention to the younger Uchiha sibling, "take care of him for the time being Sasuke, we need to talk your brother for a moment." The three tailed it out of the room, leaving Naruto in Sasuke's company.

"Sorry, I'm causing trouble here aren't I," said Naruto sullenly.

"Naturally," retorted Sasuke.

"WELL SORRY! I didn't ask for visions to come to me you know!" Naruto was livid. He expected Sasuke to be much nicer than this, but what did he know, after all, he barely knew him.

"At least, you're acting more like yourself now," said Sasuke with a slight smirk painted on his face. It seemed like it was foreign territory for the raven, but it wasn't such a bad look on him either. Plus it endeared Naruto that the man simply wanted to cheer him up even if it meant using insults to make the blonde's normal self come out.

"Thanks." Naruto splayed a sheepish smile on his face as he beamed towards his fire guardian and continued, "Sasuke, can you do me a huge favor?"

"Depends, spill it." Sasuke waited in anticipation for the other guy to start speaking.

"I need you to sneak me out of here, and don't let Itachi know." Naruto looked resigned as if he knew something that the others did not, and it the blonde's case, it usually meant something ominous. Sasuke nodded in response and Naruto smiled a small smile.

"This has something to do with the vision just now right?" asked Sasuke.

"Yeah, some things became clear to me and if I went head on into this with Itachi I saw him meet his end, but if I do this without him then there may be a chance for me to save everyone." Naruto spoke in almost a silent whisper as if he spoke any louder then Itachi would hear it.

"Why do you need to do this alone?"

"I'd rather not, but if I alert more people then I know he'll try and take this into his hands."

"How long do you have until we meet this danger?" asked Sasuke seriously now.

"Not long, I'm guessing about two days," Naruto's voice seemed to trail off a little for a moment, "I need to leave now but tell Itachi, if he asks, that I'll be with Kimimaro and the others, I need to talk to them." Sasuke agreed and had used a transportation jutsu to teleport himself and Naruto to the house where the non Konoha shinobi guardians stayed. Sasuke wanted to saty during the debriefing, but Naruto mentioned that he should go back just in case Itachi starts asking questions… questions that he did not want to answer… at all.

"Hey! You're alright!" rejoiced Sumaru as he saw the blonde walk into the living room. Naruto gave him a half hearted smile and asked if everyone else was still awake. It turned out that Kimimaro, Haku, Kin, along with Zabuza were still out trying to gather herbs that Haku thought would be good for Naruto.

Since the subject of Kin came up, Naruto asked how the new guardians are taking the news and Sumaru said that at first, Neji and Kin were against the added 'responsibilities' but soon understood the situation. It was Neji who first accepted it as a part of his destiny, something that was born from him wanting to be free from the clutches of the main family. On the other hand, Kin was totally opposed with having to work with Konoha shinobis and it took the better part of the day for Kimimaro to sway her into joining the blonde's cause… whatever it may be. Kin resigned her fate and figured that if Kimimaro felt so strongly to leap into the fire with Naruto, then she'll be along his side as well. Plus with the added fact that they were pretty much abandoned by Orochimaru and the sound-nins, Kin really didn't have too many choices in the matter; she was just glad that she wasn't the only shinobi in the blonde's league of guardians that were previously in Orochimaru's clutches.

With that aside, Naruto relaxed with Sumaru in the living room playing shogi. And by relaxed, it's implied that it was Naruto who was frustrated from trying to remember all of the rules of shogi and it was Sumaru who was laughing at the blonde when the blonde started talking to his shogi pieces asking them to win for him even if at least once.

"Always the troublemaker!" bellowed out Zabuza as he came in to view from the living room doors followed by the other guardians.

"Hey guys!" said Naruto as he attached himself onto Haku whom ended up on the floor because of the added weight of the blonde.

"How are you doing?" asked Kimimaro.

"I'm alright! I'm a really fast healer!" said Naruto as he climbed off of Haku, letting the effeminate male get back up to his feet.

"What brings you here? I thought that the Uchiha was taking care of you if you know what I mean," said Zabuza with an obvious smirk on his face as if he could see right through the blonde, and this caused the blonde to blush an abnormally bright red.

"I told you not to tease Zabuza," motioned Haku by slightly swatting the older man's arm, "so what brought you here if you were supposed to be with the older Uchiha?" asked Haku.

Naruto looked serious for a moment and told them all to sit so he could tell them what he would be planning. He looked over to Kin and saw her sit down complacently. She didn't even bat her eye in the least as she sat right next to Kimimaro.

Naruto had first told them of the visions he had. He couldn't give any insight to the visions since he did not know what it meant either. Next he informed them that he needed to intercept this before it got to close to the village, whatever it may be. He couldn't ask them to risk their lives without knowing the consequences so Naruto gave them a choice to either come with him or stay.

Kimimaro was the first to pipe up and swear his undying allegiance which Kin also swore in turn. Sumaru wanted to be there for the blonde because they were now friends and friends just don't turn away from each in times of need. Haku also said yes and Zabuza agreed to come along since he just couldn't bear to leave Haku's side.

At that moment Kakashi teleported in, from out of nowhere, alongside Neji and they too wanted to come along for the ride. They mentioned that they were assigned by the Hokage to keep an eye out on Zabuza and the other missing-nins since the council was still against the fact that they were in the village and that they overheard everything.

Naruto seemed reluctant to receive their help at first since they might be deemed as traitors if they left all of a sudden. Naruto also figured that he couldn't really ask for the Hokage's permission due to the act that it will take time to approve something of this magnitude, but Kakashi countered that the safety of the village was his job as a Konoha shinobi and if disobeying ninja ranks is necessary in the pursuit of this safety then so be it.

Neji, on the other hand, cocked it up to the reasoning that he didn't really feel any ties with his clan and the village so he'd rather follow Naruto, who gave him a second chance in life when the seal was removed, rather than follow the path he had been in before his guardianship.

"But what about Sasuke? He is, after all, your guardian too," asked Neji.

"I don't want to tell him, if he goes then Itachi will know what's up and I'm sure he's already suspicious enough, especially after the vision incident at his place," said Naruto.

"We'll keep it a secret," said Neji as he and Kakashi turned to go out but stopped and asked, "so when do we leave?"

"At daybreak, we'll have to make do of the time we have since this danger might be closer than we think and we need to meet back here before we leave," explained Naruto. Kakashi and Neji left using the teleportation jutsu, and the others had wanted to get their weapons and items needed for the journey ahead. Naruto told them that he'd head back to the Uchiha compound and come back in the morning. This earned him a jeer and a lewd call from Zabuza, but Haku put a stop to that just as quickly.

Naruto used the teleportation jutsu and had ported back right back into Itachi's room where he was dropped on his ass.

"I kind of knew you'd be back," said Sasuke who sat at the nearest chair watching the blonde pick himself up from the ground quite ungracefully.

"Yeah, I didn't want to worry Itachi by leaving. So umm, where is Itachi? Is he still not back from the talk with his parent? That must be one long talk then," murmured Naruto towards Sasuke.

"You're just in time, I'm here," said Itachi who walked into the room. "Want to tell me where you ran off to?"

"Oh you know, just here and there," said Naruto.

"Yeah, here and there," scoffed Sasuke as he waved to the other two as he took his leave.

"Should I even ask?" asked Itachi. Naruto just smiled and shook his head in response.

"So, umm, what did your parents talk to you about?" asked Naruto.

Itachi took the couple of steps needed to close their distance before answering the blonde, _'you'_, in an almost silent whisper. A sudden rush of heat coursed through Naruto's veins when that sweet sliver of a breath wisped across his skin.

"Why me?" asked Naruto back breathlessly.

"They just wanted to know why you over here without having been introduced," stated Itachi.

"Is that really all? That was a pretty long talk for just that," countered Naruto.

"Well, that and the whole 'we need an heir' speech, but that's mostly dad, and I think mom is waiting on Sasuke for a grandson instead," said Itachi.

"You're not so perfect now, are you," taunted Naruto. Itachi let a small smile be displayed before tackling the smaller blonde onto his back. Thankfully, they both landed on the bed just right behind Naruto instead of the hard ground.

Naruto was still giggling as he found himself pinned down underneath Itachi, but the tension built up between them when he looked up at the other man. Itachi looked at him with those deep black eyes of his.

"Can I kiss you?" asked Itachi.

"Why are you asking? You're just supposed to go for it," breathed out Naruto.

Itachi did not let a second linger before his lips attacked those of the blonde's plump ones. Naruto received the kiss quite well and reciprocated back with enthusiasm. Itachi's free hands roamed across the plains of the blonde's clothed stomach until he reached the hem of the shirt the blonde was wearing and slid his hand beneath them to feel the warm muscles underneath.

Itachi could feel the blonde's stomach muscles quiver in his touch, so he let his touch linger for a while until a breathless moan was released from the blonde's open mouth.

Naruto's lips searched for Itachi's when the older male stopped, and the raven was only too willing to continue. Lips meshed in frenzy almost like a dance that was gaining speed and momentum. Each of Naruto's kisses were received and returned by the other male with glee. It was only a moment later that the kisses intensified leaving each of them a bit breathless, and in the midst of Naruto's pants Itachi slipped his tongue in.

Naruto let his tongue play with the invader in a silent play of tonsil hockey and the two only parted when the need to breathe became too much to bear.

"Itachi, I don't think I'm ready to go any further than this for now," explained Naruto when he backed off from Itachi's kiss once more.

"Alright, but just one more thing."

"What's that?" asked Naruto. When Naruto leaned over to ask once more, Itachi swooped down and met his lips in a swift exchange.

"Good night," said Itachi as he took his weight off of the blonde and settled on the bed. The blonde followed suit and laid down right next to the smirking raven.

"Yeah, 'night…"

TO BE CONTINUED!

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A/N: I'll try and update in a more timely manner from now on... again, no promises! :D Please bear with me!


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